


Invisibly Inked

by yanvels



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Wizards, Coming of Age, Harry Potter Universe, I really don't know how to tag it's my first work here sorry fellas, M/M, Slow Burn, Time Skips, magical beings, obligatory teacher oc's
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 13:18:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 88,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18895411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yanvels/pseuds/yanvels
Summary: Mahoutokoro took him in when his life burnt down to ashes and gave him a new purpose, but destiny is tricky, and being a wizard has both good and bad. Jisung could only ever walk in his real life daydreams, but growing to understand that dangers are lurking hidden, he realizes he might just be better off running and keep those who are dear to him close.Alternatively, Jisung is admitted to Japan's Mahoutokoro school of witchcraft and wizardry at age seven and faces both the struggle of growing up as well as the problems the wizarding world never quite managed to sort out.





	1. You're a wizard, Jisung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I don't actually know how to introduce this, but hello! This au just kind of came to me when I was researching the Harry Potter universe and discovered JKR actually added Mahoutokro as a Japanese wizarding school. I don't know what came over me but something told me to write it. First I kind of want to apologize ahead of time - I'm not a native english speaker, so some things might seem off, maybe. Some things that are intentionally altered, for example, the biggest age difference is going to be five years, so - the dreamies and mark are all 7 year olds at the time of the first chapter and the oldest members would be Taeil and 95 liners that are twelve at the same timeframe. there are going to be PLENTY of timeskips probably, so don't worry, they'll be teens in like. a woosh. Other than that, the nct members would be gradually introduced. for example, Chenle would probably take two or three chapters to introduce, mostly because of world developing. Last note before we finish here - the story will probably contain MANY SM artists, if not most of them, one of them introduced in this chapter even, so if you recognize a name, yes, it is them! (: I hope you enjoy the story, thanks for reading!

Jisung started boarding Mahoutokoro school of witchcraft and wizardry when he was seven.

 

It wasn’t a common practice. actually, he was the first exception in decades. Despite the fact the school didn’t mind having small, hyperactive children during the school’s working terms, there was no residency within the jade castle for people younger than eleven. The school prided itself in the act of teaching the younger generation the minute it was possible, as well as giving them a head start, but it was clear to all the staff that young wizards and witches needed their family to grow to their full potential, which was what eventually decided that until age eleven, all those children would go home when the school’s hours are over.

 

It wasn’t an option for Jisung as a child that grew up in an orphanage, far in the outskirts of Busan, South Korea. Despite how people might think when they hear he was from some halfway house, he didn’t have a sob story about how his parents died and he was left alone, quite the contrary - he was told he was given up as a child as his mother couldn’t take care of him. The people who did take care of him always told him it was for the better. He didn’t know if he believed that, but he accepted his new life, nonetheless. 

 

Many twists and turns took place when he was seven. Some of which are better not spoken about. In less than three months, he found himself in some Island in Japan, just learning about the fact that he was a wizard with a life far less magical than unlucky. He was incredibly scared that first year. The minute he walked into the castle, held by the hand by an eerily quiet man that only spoke Japanese (a language Jisung did _not_ understand) when he actually bothered to open his mouth. he was brought in front of the person who he now knew was the headmaster, who immediately took out his wand to cast a spell on him, light bursting out of it in less than a second.

 

_ Jisung was convinced he was going to die. That he was taken by these strange people to some jade prison to have a death sentence over things he didn’t understand. He screamed and tried to run away, but the grip of his escort was far too tight for a small kid like him to escape. He only calmed down when the said tall escort squatted down in front of him and talked again.  _

 

_ “Do you understand me now?” He asked, his tone seemingly much nicer now that it was clear to Jisung what he was saying. He didn’t quite know why he understood the language now when five minutes earlier he didn’t know a word in Japanese. He didn’t answer. He couldn’t bring himself to trust his mouth to speak in coherent sentences, in front of these people he didn’t know. He didn’t trust them, not yet.  _

 

_ They weren’t stupid, though. They could tell from his careful body language he understood.  _

 

_ “It was a translating spell, boy. You don’t need to worry. I couldn’t cast it on you myself earlier because of the, well, circumstances, but you have nothing to fear. You are safe now.” The man tried to appeal to him, his eyes nearly disappearing in his smile, but Jisung was still nervous. He looked across the entire room he was in. Unfamiliar, Weird. The room was wide and filled with some strange knick-knacks, but Jisung couldn’t quite tell what were those things stacked across the shelves. Most of the room was made by stone with decorations of white, smooth jade, that honestly caught Jisung’s attention way more.  _

 

_ It looked like how he would imagine the throne room of Jade Emperor to be like. Jisung couldn’t describe it as anything else but a myths and fairytales coming alive. He tentatively let his gaze meet the eyes of the man. “Where am I?” He asked, his voice as suspicious as possible.  _

 

_ “I think it might be better off if I explain that, my child.” The other, older man said, uncomfortably cozy despite the unnerving situation. He had a low, knowing voice, that gave away his old age. “You are in Mahoutokoro, the resident wizarding school of Japan, located on the so called ‘uninhabited’ island of Minami Iwo Jima. You grew up amongst people who are unaware of magic, or simply deny its existence, but I can tell you that magic and witchcraft is far from being an hallucination. My name is Miyamoto Takuma, and I’m the headmaster. Now, I did introduce us as a school, but our work goes far beyond what a normative muggle schools are like. We have a responsibility towards the wizarding community across East Asia, and strive to help every child that awakens his magical abilities, which includes you, Jisung.”  _

 

_ The man’s words didn’t quite register in Jisung’s mind. He was convinced that all of it was a dream. Some sort of weird nightmare that took some turns and became more like a delusion. From what happened to the orphanage and what he’s been through after, it just didn’t seem real. All of it made him feel quite lightheaded, and he couldn’t take any  of this seriously. “Uh… that’s a lot of big words, mister… and how do you know my name?”  _

 

_ Mr. Miyamoto chuckled, his wrinkles becoming more prominent. Jisung probably seemed more confused than anything, but there’s only so much you can expect from a seven year old's mind to digest at once. “Yes, I guess I could have made that simpler. As for your name… an old wizard’s trick, my boy.” _

 

-

 

It took him a few days to realize that what he was going through was reality. The headmaster, along with the escort he now knew was Professor Terada, explained to him all about the wizarding world. From wands and basic necessities of a wizard to the reasons it was hidden to the regular eye. He wasn’t quite willing to accept it from the moment they told him, as this kind of optimistic and empowering turn in his life did not seem possible to him, but every second that passed it became more clear that he isn’t going to wake up from this dream.

 

He was given robes, books, and Professor Terada even took it upon himself to come with him to receive his wand. A fourteen inches, phoenix cored chestnut wand that seemed big compared to the seven year old’s short stature. It was in a shop named WD, created by a wand artisan named Watamura Darui. The shopkeeper seemed surprised at how well the wand worked for Jisung, chattering about how rarely he sells such a combination. Jisung didn’t care for whatever he said, if he were to be honest. He mostly cared for how he nearly destroyed the wall of the shop when the wand that didn’t fit him made it crystal clear he didn’t want him as its owner. He didn’t have the money to repair that, after all.

 

When he told professor Terada of his concern, he said there’s nothing to worry about, and that apparently there is some organization that provides funds for children like him, at least until he will hit seventeen. Not to mention that apparently in wand shops, such things are simply occupational hazards. He decided not to inquire further about the topic. Better keep quiet than end up offering the little money he apparently gets.

 

Later on, he was introduced to Suzu, a barn owl that would from that point be his pet as well as his messenger owl. He truly doubted he would get messages from anyone, but he liked the creature itself. Suzu was a male owl with a knack to climb over Jisung until he got to the top of his head, but was clearly a smart specimen, seeing how he carefully made sure to not hurt his new owner with his claws. He greatly appreciated the bird’s companionship in the castle, as usually he spent his days alone.

 

None of the students ever approached him, despite several raising their brows at the appearance of a small, unsupervised child roaming around in their castle. All of them were at least four years older than him, ages twelve to seventeen, and were the minority of the students that decided to spend their summer vacation in Mahoutokoro. He could hear them whispering about him, debating if he was the kid of one of the teachers or something overtly scandalous, but none of them ever came to actually ask anything. All they cared for was their off the grapevine gossip. 

 

He felt judged and lonely, and wished he could just apparate himself away. If this how he felt when he simply walking through the corridors, what will happen when he will actually begin to be schooled? Will he be scrutinized? He had so many questions in his head, but he couldn’t relay them to anybody - Professor Terada didn’t actually live in Mahoutokoro, and the headmaster was always busy. Usually, he was stuck in the small room he was provided with, not really allowed to explore the main parts of the castle quite yet.

 

Two weeks before the school year began, he decided he felt too constricted in the castle. He didn’t like to sit and do nothing. Jisung liked to move and experience and felt chained when he was stuck in his bare, uninviting room. He didn’t want to wait for the year to begin to see if he has any chance of maybe at least making friends. 

 

It wasn’t one of his brightest decisions, but he decided to go explore the island. He patted Suzu through the cage, whispering apologies to the bird. It tried to bite him several times and screeched in disapproval as Jisung went to the door, sensing he was up for no good. Jisung felt bad, but still chose to ignore it. He couldn’t sit and do nothing anymore. He was practically forced to become a hermit here, and it drove him up the walls.

 

It was almost evening, the stars still shying away from the descending sun, so Jisung could still see all the area clearly. Mahoutokoro was situated at the peak of a volcanic mountain, and the area outside of the school was rocky and calloused. The headmaster told him that the lava from the volcano melted the rocks over and over, and now he noticed it looked as if the school was situated on an untouchable platform of rocks, more than likely because of how the wizards and witches of Mahoutokoro protected the castle when eruptions occured.

 

The said ‘platform’ was attached to other areas by four bridges, looking as if they were carved in the ground. They were rocky at their sides, sharp and coarse, but at the same time, the bridge were long and stretched out like a snake in movement. The thing that amazed Jisung was that despite all the harsh rocks, plants grew on the mountain, not willing to lose to the uneven ground they lived upon. 

 

All the bridges were to the lower parts of the island, and descended downwards towards the sea level of island. Jisung had a hard time deciding where should he go. He dismissed the rocky path to his left, deciding he wanted to see something that wasn’t just a part of the mountain. Aside from that choice, there were two paths towards the forest like area of island, and one towards the sea. He kept pondering for several minutes, until suddenly, one of bridges began to move. The giant path took its time until it stopped in front of Jisung. It was one of the ways towards the forest. The ending point remained the same, only the starting point moved, seemingly calling for Jisung to take it.

 

Excited and slightly intimidated, Jisung hesitantly placed his foot on the bridge, taking several careful steps before deciding it was okay to push forward. He ran down the bridge, looking at the view of island had to offer. As the forest made itself clearer, the white jade palace seemed more and more far away. It made Jisung feel both giddy and nervous at the same time.

 

The entry to the forest began with a field filled with grass and weeds, as well as more spaced out dandelions that were scattered around. There was a trail into the forest that seemed to lose more and more width as you walk into it, and that thought kind of scared Jisung. He wanted an adventure, but there was also a looming sense of fear that resided in his mind. He couldn’t protect himself even when the orphanage…

 

_ No, just forget about it!  _

 

He shook his head, unwilling to remind himself of the past. He still had yet to realize that what happened  _ there  _ was not a nightmare. All he wanted was to go ahead and forget himself at the forest, he pushed through the imaginary boundary of fear that had him lingering at the entry, and started walking into the woods. He tried to take in all of the sights, focus on them, rather than anything else.

 

Soon enough, he found himself lost within the woods. The trail stopped being an actual trail and became just ground as he kept walking, and Jisung did not keep track of how and where he went. It didn’t take a long time for him to become fearful. It grew darker as night fell and Jisung couldn’t even quite see at this point. Confused and scared, he tried to backtrack, but to little avail. It was as if the trees shifted places, hiding away the truth from him. 

 

He felt trapped. Not knowing how to proceed, his eyes glistened as he grew teary, thinking he just sentenced himself to the forest. He started sniffling, not being able to contain the stress within himself anymore. Jisung sat down on the dirty earth, hugging his knees. He didn’t want to fall apart like this, but he felt as if his life were crumbling once again, when only a few days ago what was left of them was salvaged. 

 

Only when he started whimpering did he notice something bright in the dark forest. His vision was not the best due to the tears and darkness, but something in front of him was clearly glowing behind a few more trees. It shone like a star in the night sky, softly yet clearly, and at the same time, it was floating around like a firefly.

 

The glow was light blue, he noticed as he wiped his tears away. Jisung felt compelled to go after it. Usually, he would have waited, weighing his options, but right now, he felt like he had no other option. He didn’t have a clue of how to return to Mahoutokoro, and he didn’t want to wait around for some creature to come and eat him. He stood up from the ground, not caring for the dirt that now stuck to his trousers, and started following to unknown glow.

 

As he had gotten closer to light, it slowly disappeared, another one appearing farther away, teasing the already frustrated Jisung. He picked up his pace, tried to reach the glowing lights before they disappeared, only to be stuck in a continuous loop in which he fails in each attempt. Without even realizing he found himself in a whole new area. 

 

It was made of a single, yet big bald spot in the unending woods. Unable to locate another glow, Jisung realized the lights he had seen formerly had now wisped away completely. He looked around him, taking in the new scenery. Bright green grass was the main feature. Only very few unfamiliar flowers grew between it, among some sparse trees scattered around. In the very middle of it, there was a large pond, with a wooden bridge giving way a to quarter of its size. Right in the middle of the pond, there were several giant rocks, standing tall.

 

Jisung squinted at the sight. Minami Iwo Jima was known for not having any bodies of water gracing its surface, according to the books he had read. it was the main reason that people could only survive on the Island if they lived in Mahoutokoro. Was he taken to some sort of hallucination? Surely people would’ve managed to explore such a small island without missing this giant piece of it.    

 

He wasn’t sure light lead him here, but as the minutes passed and moon above him started shining brighter, he started feeling more and more uncomfortable. Almost unreasonably cramped, despite the field being larger than he’d ever think a secret spot like this ever had the right to be. He felt watched, yet there was nothing there.

 

Anxiety rose up as he kept looking around for any evidence to confirm his suspicion. Nothing. Yet everything in him told him otherwise - the unnatural sway of the grass, the sounds that erupted from the the trees, the way the water swirled within the pond… He held his breath without knowing, his instincts begging the discoterning feeling to wash away. 

 

The cramped feeling grew stronger and stronger, and Jisung was suddenly struck with unknown grief. He wondered if he could die simply from feeling. He didn’t want to accept it, and he kept walking backwards, his eyes tightly shut through the entire ordeal. Sounds he didn’t want to acknowledge rose back in his mind. 

 

_ The screams of the children in the orphanage replayed in his mind. He could hear his caretakers shouting as fire started to engulf the foster home he lived in his entire life. Jisung wanted to run but couldn’t bring himself to, sitting on the bed, trying to will away the flames with his mind.  _

 

_ He sat there for long minutes, seeing the kids he grew up with choking on the smoke that filled the building. One of his caretakers was begging for him to jump to her, so they could escape, but the fire already started to get to her, while was still too scared to move. He wanted to weep, but noise couldn’t come out of his dry throat. All he managed to get out was a string broken hiccups. _

 

_ Nightmare. It was a nightmare. It all it could be, right? He tried to convince himself. He had such nightmares, before. They were never this scary, but this couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be real. The fire around him kept him in a circle, not daring to touch his bed, as if scared. He shuffled closer to the wall. So many unbearable sounds, smells and sights. He wanted to wake up. He wanted to wake up so bad. _ __  
  


_ There were sounds from the corridors. People walking. Cursing. He couldn’t understand half of what they were shouting. He couldn’t even recognize the voices. There were screams of pain. and Jisung tried to block the world. He couldn’t handle it anymore. He just wanted it to stop. _

 

_ Someone appeared next to him. A strange man with a snub nose and dark hair. He took Jisung’s hand in his. Where did he come from? Jisung didn’t know. He didn’t care. He just wanted this to end. Dreams are supposed to be good, so why is he haunted like this? His hand was pulled. The man spoke in an unknown language. Jisung looked at him in fear. _

 

_ More people rushed into the room and the strange man bit his lips. Jisung tried to escape from him, finally making his previously frozen body to move. Every living being in the room watched him. He wished he could turn invisible. He wished he could disappear. Why can’t his brain listen to him, within this nightmare? _

 

_ The more he struggled, the more forceful the man who held him became. He remember lights appearing, making their way towards him, made by the other people in the room, and then a yell- _

 

“Park Jisung!” Professor Terada shouted. He angrily stomped his way towards Jisung, who was washed over by relief. Without a second to spare he found himself running towards the surprised teacher, clutching onto him the moment he got close enough. Taken aback, the professor softened his expression. Slowly putting his right hand on Jisung’s nape, he attempted to calm down the now crying child. 

 

It took him several long minutes until the sobbing stopped.

 

“I’m sorry.” Jisung croaked out, evidently embarrassed by both his voice and his actions.

 

The professor patted his head, trying to comfort the boy to the best of his ability. As a relatively new teacher he still wasn’t quite proficient with handling children, but he did his best. He gave Jisung a sympathetic smile that was laced with pity for the child. “Everything will be okay, Mr. Park.”

 

Jisung scrunched his nose at how he was addressed, but managed to calm down slightly. He nodded half-heartedly, still not completely over the episode he went through. 

 

Hoping that maybe distracting him will help the poor boy’s demeanor, Terada decided to start explaining about the place they were standing at. “You know, this grove is usually kept secret until students reach their fourth year. It’s truly the essence of magical nature, only revealing itself to those who, in a way, need it. I’m actually quite surprised you managed to find it, even with all things considered…” he trailed off.

 

“The lights… they led me here…” Jisung stuttered as a response, mostly for the sake of answering. Unexpectedly, the professor’s eyes grew comically big, his eyebrows curving in surprise. 

 

“Lights? Those must be the forest wisps. People rarely ever see them, even with how mischievous those things are. They are snitch-like in nature, but it is said there’s merit if you can follow them…” Many things went through the teacher’s mind at that moment. It was incredibly uncommon to be accepted by the wisps, and their main function on the island had always been luring its enemies to their failure. Them acting as a guiding light… percuiler. 

 

Jisung snapped him out of his thought with a positively cute pout and a tug on his sleeve. “What do you mean by a snitch, sir?.. Did they tell you I was here?” He asked, finally his voice returning to its usual, confused tone. Terada felt his lips curving into a smile as he tried to hold his snort back.

 

“No, my boy. If I had a source that specific, I would have found you hours ago. Your owl certainly did not like your disappearance, though. A very demanding bird, nearly made me lose my hearing when I came by your room.” He laughed, and Jisung uncomfortably forced some chuckles up his throat as well. He certainly hoped Suzu would forgive him as easily as the professor. “Come on, my boy. I only came here to arrange my class for the upcoming year. You certainly took most of my time though, so tomorrow, be prepared to rise early. We shall make sure the Charms’ classroom looks spotless.”

 

Letting out an heavy sigh, Jisung let professor Terada lead the way back to the Mahoutokoro. He wiped away the tears from his eyes, finally his breathes steadying as he tried to keep up with the teacher’s pace. Despite it all, he got off easy, he supposed. 

 

-

 

The day before the grand start of the new school year, Jisung was restless. If all the teachers in Mahoutokoro were as nice as professor Terada, maybe he will be okay, but many fears found their way to his mind.

 

His doubts about being able to fit in with the rest of the students of Mahoutokoro were plaguing him. He looked at his enchanted robes, concerned. Yes, the students that he met at the castle do not represent everyone, and he would soon have people his age lingering around, but the looks he was given through the summer made him uncomfortable at the thought of even more people entering the jade castle.

 

He was promised that there will be some Korean students by the headmaster, but he also mentioned most of them will not be his age, as the younger student body comprised of mostly Japanese students, if not completely made up by them. That being said, South Korea does not have a wizarding school at the moment, so there’s still hope that through the year some of them will be added. He very much hoped that’ll be the case.

 

Headmaster Miyamoto also said that he will attach some Japanese student to him, in hopes that it will make him more comfortable. Jisung wasn’t sure that was all there is to it, considering the headmaster told him this right after being told that Jisung went to explore what they call the ‘Komorebi Woods’. Jisung was  _ very  _ nervous about that. He was told the student have been to South Korea several times, and is quite a hardworking, model student, but to him, the fact that some random person would hover around him was unsettling. Not to mention said would be twelve years old, five years older than Jisung himself.

 

God, he wanted to hurl.

 

Suzu flew around the room the entire time he was pacing around . Jisung always let the bird fly around for a few hours out of his cage, to make sure it not too bored. Only inside his room, but there was little he could do, when he was in a roundabout way already warned about wandering around again. Suzu settled on the door knob of the entrance, seemingly glaring at the nervous Jisung. He sighed. He discovered it was much harder to get the owl to forgive him for leaving that day than either both the headmaster or professor Terada.

 

“I’m not going to run out of the door, so stop scowling at me.” Jisung frowned at the bird, remembering the initial almost drill-like pecking that ensued when he returned to the castle that night. Suzu didn’t seem to totally believe him, but flew away to the top of his cage, holding onto the top of it with his claws instead.

 

Jisung sighed. Even his own owl seemed to tell him to stop running away from his problems. He knew he should listen to that advice, but he still felt like too much of a coward to actually deal with things. There was too much stuff to handle, too many things to admit. Disheartened, Jisung tried to lift his spirits. Grabbing his enchanted robes off the rack of his open closet, he thought about the good things that will come from being a student.

 

The robes were tinted faint, baby pink. He was told that as he progresses in his studied, they will slowly build up their color, starting from a simple red, to scarlet, orange, soft yellow and eventually, gold. There would be many shades that he will go through, but the progress will be shown. He strived for the gold, hoping he would able to be one of those who reach the rare color. Through the summer, he had seen many seventeen year olds still sporting the red colors, and some in the orange hues. Gold was not easily achieveable. The goal gave him ambition, gave him purpose. He wanted to reach to the highest level. 

 

Maybe even show those 10th years that despite their dismissive gaze, he is not just some scandal child. Might be petty, but at least he wanted to improve through it.

 

Suzu flew to his shoulder out of nowhere, approving of his new demeanor. Jisung smiled, and looked into a mirror to his side. From some unknown reason it made him feel hopeful. Suzu gave out a croon and he laughed, feeling like an actual wizard rather than just a boy in an illusion.  

 

He hoped the future was as bright as it seemed to be.

 

-

 

To wait at the castle for the students to arrive was incredibly nerve wracking, albeit it being for the reasons Jisung didn’t quite expect. They were expected to arrive near the evening, and Jisung was told to wait until they reach there to join in for the welcoming feast in the grand hall.

 

Despite Jisung living in Mahoutokoro for almost two months, he was not allowed to visit or see any of the classrooms, dorms, and especially the grand hall. He was allowed to go to the library, some of the leisure rooms and the kitchens, but anywhere that had magic commonly practiced would have to wait until he was a student. Apparently every year there seems to be damages to those rooms that the staff takes care of during the summer. Headmaster Miyamoto was a proud man that took the most pride in his school, and wasn’t willing to let Jisung’s first impression be a ‘dull, far from impressive’ experience.

 

Jisung didn’t care for all of that. He waited for this moment all summer. He just wanted to officially be a wizard, or well, more correctly, a student. The child waited impatiently in his room, waiting for professor Terada to come in a tell him it’s time. He got fooled out of excitement already, when a sweet house elf named Hoki came to bring him his lunch. Jisung scared the poor elf half to death when he jumped out of his bed towards him. He felt incredibly bad about it, but Hoki did not allow him to apologize in common house elf fashion and blamed himself.

 

Jisung swore he would be nice to any house elves he ever meets at that moment. 

 

Finishing his lunch, Jisung decided to already start preparing himself for the grand opening of the school. It was three o’clock, and he had time, but he felt the need to get up and get ready. It was proven to be an early choice, considering only two hours later he finally heard the desired knock at him door.

 

Quick on his feet, Jisung ran to the door in what seemed like a flash of a second, enthusiastically and clumsily opening the door for his professor with a wide smile plastered to his face. The smile faltered when he realized that professor Terada was not alone. 

 

Besides his teacher stood a young teenager, hair colored dark brown and defined face features for his age. He wasn’t particularly tall but certainly taller than Jisung. The teenager wore Mahoutokoro’s robes, but his were colored bright red, signifying that he had to be at least a pretty good student. Jisung had to hold himself from shutting the door right back from surprise and a tiny bit of embarrassment. He already planned in his mind how he would meet the other students, spending hours on fantasizing about it in his mind, but some plans are just bound to change, it seemed.

 

Jisung remained silent, his eyes shifting between Terada’s eyes and the student’s. The other student also went to stare at him after a few moments of awkward silence, until the teacher finally broke it. “Jisung, this is Nakamoto Yuta. He’s the student-mentor that we told you about. He’s one of our brightest students. Up until now you relied on translation spells to understand Japanese, as well as the headmaster and I did for Korean, but Yuta knows Korean organically, so you will be able to speak with him freely and even more discreetly, if you feel any need to.” The professor said enthusiastically, trying to lift the awkward atmosphere that settled in before.

 

Jisung looked up at Yuta. He didn’t quite know how should he start the conversation, but he gave out a shy ‘hi’, waving his hand timidly. Yuta flashed his bright smile, moving closer and held out a hand to Jisung. Jisung took it thinking he wanted to shake his hand, but soon enough was pushed to a quick hug that ended almost as quickly as it began, and both of Yuta’s hands ended on each of his shoulders.    

 

“Nice to meet you, Jisung. I’m Yuta. If you have any questions about anything you can come to me. I’m also the 5th years’ prefect, so if you can’t catch me, just go around our floor and ask around, you’ll find me at some point.” he said, and Jisung was a tiny bit in awe that his Korean was so good, but made sure to nod enthusiastically to show he understood. Admittedly he was impressed with who was chosen to watch over him, and even though he initially very much disliked the notion he would have a babysitter, Yuta’s confidence and charisma kind of drew him in. He would like to be his friend, if possible.

 

_ He seems really cool… _

 

“Well then, off you go, kids. The feast is about to begin every moment now - you better hurry up!” Professor Terada chuckled and apparated, thin air blowing as he disappeared right in front of them. Jisung wished he could do that already, but Yuta didn’t seem impressed, rolling his eyes.

 

“There’s twenty minutes until the feast begins, he just wanted a grand exit. Or for us to have a bonding experience, maybe.” Yuta clairfied, trying to hold his grin from spreading too big on his face. “We can walk to the hall, we have time. Just follow me.” He just started walking, and Jisung spluttered around until he hurried himself and walked right behind him. At the moment he was so nervous that he didn’t mind becoming Yuta’s shadow.  

“You don’t need to be scared. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to miss a thing in today’s feast. Aside from great food, they always go ham with trying to wow the new students. You’re going to really like it.” Yuta told him, urging Jisung to his side as they went down a giant staircase towards the main hall’s door. There were so many people waiting in front on it, their different colored robes making the lower floor look like a bed of flowers. “And if anyone bothers you or being mean… just let me know. They won’t have fun afterwards, I promise.” He said quietly, patting the younger’s back. Jisung thought that any other person that would have said that would have sounded like a gang leader, but Yuta spoke with too much empathy for it to sound threatening. 

 

“Okay… thank you.” He answered just as quietly, giving a tame smile to the older as he looked up at him. 

 

The heavy doors to the hall creaked loudly, catching the attention of all the students around. The doors opened so slowly, they basically teased the students as more and more of the hall was revealed. Jisung and Yuta hurried to take their spots behind many students that blocked the view, but the high pitched ‘wow’ and gasps of some of the first year students already attested for the fact you did not want to miss what’s in front of them.

 

The sea of students started to wash away into the hall, everyone trying to get the best seats while admiring what Jisung could only say was pure magic. The hall was was filled with blooming, pink cherry blossom trees that created a tunnel-like room - you could not see the ceiling, as it was covered from beginning to end by the pink leaves of the trees. Wood grew from the the walls in a sideways position, and in the very end of the room, even made a platform along with a table for the teachers out of the branches, that swirled around each other until they created a perfect surface to dine from. 

 

There were even some cherries on top of the trees. Jisung wasn’t sure if the trees could actually grow them or if it was just another magic trick, but he couldn’t care less anyway. It looked spectacular. There were leaves floating around in the air, and he could swear those leaves were alive, flying around for just enough time for the children to attempt to catch them until the slipped back up into the air, up to the treetops.

 

“Everyone, to your seats! We are about to begin.” Headmaster Miyamoto yelled, his wand on his throat, using it as a microphone. Everyone ran to the nearest seats. All of the chairs were made out of what he assumed cherry wood, and had a pillow that corresponded to a possible color of their robes. Jisung himself sat on one with a scarlet pillow. He didn’t know if it had any significance, but as all students were scattered around, he assumed it was okay for now. Yuta didn’t say anything either, and just let the boy sit next to him, so he tried not to worry much.

 

“First of all, I would like welcome all of the students to the walls of Mahoutokoro. It pleases me greatly to see how much the school is growing each year that passes. The magical power in the room is clear as a day, and I know that every child in this room, with the right tutoring, will be able to become a fantastic wizard or witch.” He said pridefully, but Jisung seemed confused. What did he mean by the school growing? Is that another wizarding thing he didn’t know about? The castle seemed to be the same size it was when he arrived.

 

Yuta noticed Jisung being lost, probably due to his habit of scrunching his nose as he worked out a problem in his mind. He leaned towards the younger boy. “Mahoutokoro is significantly smaller in students numbers compared to other wizarding schools. Before they only accepted around twenty international students each year, and even then they were pretty picky about who gets to attend. This year the student body grew by almost two hundred students.” He whispered slowly, trying to be discreet with his explanation. Jisung nodded, giving out a quiet ‘oh.’ From how grand the school was he would have assumed that the school would have much more people studying in it. Now that Yuta mentioned it, he did notice there weren’t  _ that  _ many students in the hall.

 

The headmaster then proceeded to introduce the teachers with professor Terada was the first one to be introduced, and the minute people heard his name there were cheers from the older students. Jisung clapped enthusiastically with the rest of his table as the professor bowed. Jisung really liked him and in his opinion, definitely deserved the appreciation.

 

Honestly, the rest of the teachers didn’t interest him much. He still clapped all the same for them, but their introductions went like a breeze and he felt like he kind of missed half of them without even noticing. He really hoped the teachers will introduce themselves again in classes, because if not, he was totally screwed.

 

Suddenly, he got the chills, shivering uncomfortably. He looked up and realized someone from the staff’s table was staring at him. A lanky, slim man that sported an unkempt, long ponytail. He didn’t even stop when Jisung noticed him and the boy immediately looked away. Was he too obvious earlier when he didn’t listen? He definitely screwed up somehow for that person to be practically locking on him like that.

 

Yuta laughed. “Did you meet professor Takanashi before? He seems pretty captivated with you.” Jisung wanted to dig himself a hole and disappear. He shook his head hard, trying to avoid the teacher’s gaze as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

 

“Well, he’s pretty damn weird, so it’s not really surprising. He always transfigures shit around students so he could scare them, so I don’t think you should be concerned. He’s just eyeing his next target.” Yuta chuckled. Jisung gulped, not liking the explanation still. Yuta brought out a hand to rub his back, seeing the discomfort on his face. “Don’t worry, he’s pretty nice. When he wants to be. He’s just has this huge asshole image when he jokes around because most of his jokes are… well. Pranks.” 

 

“I don’t know. I’m just glad he stopped looking at me now.” He shuddered slightly. Professor Takanashi was now held up by a conversation with another teacher, the herbology one. Thank goodness. Jisung thought that maybe he’s ought to try to listen in herbology, even if the subject itself sounded like such a bore.

 

“Okay! Everyone, it’s time for the cherry blessing ceremony!” Headmaster Miyamoto then said, and immediately the older students cheered, leaving the first years pretty lost. “ Our dear first years, as well as our new transfers - this is for you. Every year, Mahoutokoro grows a magical crop of unique cherries for the new students. It is said that those cherries give successes and luck for the worthy and hardworking. This year, we are giving them to you, and wishing a fulfilling, studious year. Watch out for the branches!”

 

The cherry blossom trees then started to move, their branches lowering more and more until their curved to their maximum capacity. One of the branches stopped centimeters from Jisung’s face, instinctively making him lean backwards. A high pitched screech could be heard as he noticed a thin, green twig like creature sliding down on the tree, holding a heavy looking cherry, colored as if it was a red nebula on the inside and had leaves shaped like a crown.

 

Jisung watched as the green twig thing revealed itself, its small brown eyes focused on him. Gracefully the tiny creature held out his hands, offering the cherry proudly to Jisung. It took a few seconds for Jisung to react to the strange situation, but held out his hands as well, not wanting to just pluck the cherry out of the little twig rudely.

 

“Just take it, Jisung. It’s a bowtruckle, they are the most peaceful magical beasts ever, they won’t explode on you.” Yuta encouraged. Jisung bit his lips, but lifted his hand to grab the cherry from what Yuta called a bowtruckle. He grabbed the cherry gently and smiled at the miniature creature. The twiggy thing seemed pleased by Jisung and jumped around, nearly slipping off the tree branch by accident but luckily catching himself and hanging at the branch’s side. Then, the tree branch retracted itself back in high speed, stealing away the poor creature. The bowtruckle didn’t seem to care though, waving goodbye to Jisung as he dangled around and disappeared back into the pinkish tree leaves.

 

Beaming, Jisung took another look at the cherry in his hands. He wondered if he was supposed to eat it? It must be delicious, considering how it was held to such high regard. He brought it to his mouth just to try out of curiosity.

 

“No, no, no! Don’t you do that!” Yuta held Jisung wrist, keeping the cherry as far as possible from his mouth. “You’re not supposed to eat it! Not now, at least!” He yelled, looking simply appalled. 

 

“Why not? It’s a fruit..” Jisung questioned, surveying the cherry with his eyes. Why would it be bad for him to eat?

 

“Well, you can eat it, but it’s a total waste if you do now. It’s a rare ingredient, it has healing properties like no other. If you eat it while injured, it will heal you completely, no matter how bad is the wound. There’s also like… a tradition, around the cherries. The signify wishes of success and fortune, so  _ normally,  _ you give them to a person you like. To like… confess, you know.” Yuta tried to explain. Jisung squinted at him.

 

“Ew.”

 

“What can I expect from a seven year old… anyways, it tastes absolutely vile, and I’m not going to be there outside of the boys bathroom waiting for you to finish barfing your guts out.” he warned. Jisung frowned. He didn’t really like that idea either. He shoved the cherry into his robes’ front pocket. Might be better off to just stick that somewhere in his room.

 

Headmaster Miyamoto then clapped his hands loudly, all eyes on him. 

 

“Now, let the feast begin!” He announced, as hundreds of varying dishes appeared on the tables across the hall. The cherries were left forgotten as Jisung started to dig in. Grabbing anything that he could. He never had so much variety to choose from, and he barely knew what he wanted to pick, stocking up on anything he could get his hands on his plate.

 

The feast came to an end around an hour later, at seven. Yuta went back to his dorms along with the rest of the fifth years as soon as the feast was finished. Most of the children his age were escorted out of the castle by the teachers, taking them to the apparating platform outside of the castle and helping them return home safely. They will be coming to school and returning home that way until they will be eleven, and Jisung couldn’t help but think it was a major hassle. He was lucky to have his own room in the castle. 

 

Most of those students already stood in the line to return home, but one of them approached Jisung.

 

“Hey! My name’s Na Jaemin, what’s yours?” he exclaimed happily, his smile blinding from wide and pearly it was. He caught Jisung off guard by speaking in Korean.

 

“Hi… It’s Park Jisung.” Jisung replied shyly. He was just as happy meeting another Korean student, but Jaemin was looking at him so attentively it almost made him uncomfortable.

 

“I heard you speaking Korean earlier at the hall. I was at your table, a couple of seats away. I really thought I would be the only Korean kid here… Wanna come back on the apparating platform with me? They’ll probably just apparate us to the same place, and we have a chimney and floo powder at home for you to get back to your house easily!” He beamed, but Jisung felt kind of embarrassed, mostly because he didn’t understand what flu powder Jaemin was talking about. He’s not sick. How would that even relate to going home?

 

“I can’t, really… I’m staying in the castle…” Jisung explained, and the boy eyed him curiously. “I’ve actually been here since summer…” He added on, but it only seem to add to the other boys confusion.

 

“Wait, seriously? That’s so cool. They never let first years stay at the school. I begged my mom to ask them to let me dorm here too, but she told me there’s no way she’s letting me board anywhere before I’ll be eleven. I really wish I could just stay here instead of coming every day apparting. It’s an hassle and my mom and sister always worry too much when I do magic… You’d think they’d trust what they taught me, but they always think I’ll mess stuff up.” He rambled. Jisung found his story kind of interesting, though. He wished he was taught about magic when he was in the orphanage..

 

“Your parents taught you about magic when you were younger?” Jisung inquired, itching to know more.

 

“My mom and sister did. My dad is not really… around, anymore. But yeah, of course they did. We’re purebloods, it’s their pride. It’d be weird if they didn’t.” He said, his voice growing quieter. Jisung understood they probably reached some topic he shouldn’t pry into. He chose to focus on the last part instead.

 

“What’s a pureblood?” He asked innocently. It sounded cool, Jisung thought to himself. Jaemin tilted his head, his eyebrows rising up once again. Something seemed to have solved in his mind after a few seconds, and he released an understanding ‘oh.’

 

“You are a muggleborn, are you?... well, that explains quite a bit. A pureblood is someone that was born to a family of wizards and witches, with no non-magic wielding humans in it. I come from a long line of wizards and witches, the Na family. We’re apart of around… seven completely pureblood families in South Korea. I promise you I’m not stuck up, though! Muggles are really cool. And free… Oh! wait, you don’t know what a muggle is probably. Sorry! It’s just a word to describe a wizard or a witch that were born to a family of non-magical parents. It’s not a bad word. You wouldn’t hear the bad one from me.” Jaemin rambled on and on, but Jisung just tried to process the information. So Jaemin was born to a magical family, that always knew about magic and always had access to it. Jisung pouted. It made him think they were all really not created equal.

 

“What are you pouting for?” Jaemin laughed. Jisung now wore on a frown, not really mad, but more annoyed just for the sake of it. 

 

“It’s not fair. I wish I had a life like yours.” He admitted sourly, and Jaemin smiled toothily. Without any warning, he pinched Jisung’s cheeks, having the audacity to be excited when he realized how stretchy they are.

 

“You are so cute! My life is not all of that. At least you will enjoy our starting classes, I learned a lot of these things before.” He said proudly, only letting go of Jisung’s cheeks to ruffle the boy’s hair, and Jisung scrunched up his nose right until the ordeal was over. 

 

“I’m not cute.” he pouted once again, and Jaemin stayed unconvinced and somehow even manage to ramble how Jisung was going to be like his baby and he would guide him. Jisung was honestly flabbergasted. They were both seven years old! The same age!

 

He was about to protest more when he saw a woman walking towards them, looking rather upset. Usually he tried to avoid angry woman as much as he could, his memories with one of his caretakers in the orphanage keeping him on his best behaviour, but that woman was so… pretty, enough for him to be curious. She seemed like she could be one of the older students, but she was not wearing the Mahoutokoro robes. She locked on on Jaemin, and stomped her way on her heels towards the two of them.

 

“Na Jaemin! You were supposed to come back home almost forty minutes ago! Mom is worried sick. all you had to do was to let one of the teachers apparate you to Seoul! We waited on the apparating platform for so much time people started staring at us.. I had to beg for permission to come here to make sure you are okay!” She yelled at him, and Jaemin cowered away from her, frowning at the ground.

 

Jisung wasn’t sure, but the woman’s eyes seemed kind of glassy. Jaemin mumbled some apologies, holding onto his robes nervously. Jisung felt incredibly awkward, but remained silent, assuming the better option was to not interrupt them. The woman calmed down slightly after seeing Jaemin's reaction, her expression almost guilty. She crouched down to Jaemin’s height, hugging him gently as well as planted a kiss on the top of his head. “I’m sorry for yelling, we’re just worried, you know..” She whispered, but Jisung still heard it. 

 

“I just met another Korean student so I got excited.. I’m sorry…” He said again, gesturing to Jisung. The boy tried to not look away as the woman inspected him. He felt shy under her gaze, but her eyes softened quite quickly, so he let himself release his formerly tense muscles.

 

“Oh! I’m sorry about my outburst… It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Na Yoona, Jaemin’s older sister. I’m glad to hear Jaemin already has a friend. What’s your name?” She asked, a little flustered about the scene she caused. Up close she was actually prettier, and Jisung was a bit taken aback by it. Seeing her and Jaemin side by side, he definitely saw the family relation.

 

“Park Jisung…” He replied, just a tiny bit flustered. 

 

“Oh, Park? Are you related to Auror Park?” She questioned. Jisung almost immediately looked up to Jaemin, looking for an explanation. 

 

“Sis, he’s a muggleborn, he doesn’t even know what an Auror is!” Jaemin told her, and Yoona covered her gaped mouth as she realized her mistake.

 

“I’m sorry, it seems like I’m all over the place today. Usually it’s harder for foreign muggleborns to get in Mahoutokoro, so I just assumed… you must be bright and full of potential, then. I hope you have a wonderful year, Jisung.” She smiled at him. Jisung flushed at the compliments. “I’m sad I have to cut this short, but our mother must be really worried by now. I really have to take him home...” She said apologetically, and Jisung shook his head.

 

“It’s okay. I really need to go back too…” Jisung assured her, scratching the back of his head. Professor Terada would really kill him if stays out too long. It was growing darker outside and after the incident in the summer he had higher surveillance on him. Not to mention Suzu might peck his head off..

 

Yoona took Jaemin’s hand in hers, nodding gracefully. “Hopefully, we’ll meet each other again. Jaeminnie, say goodbye.” She told her brother, and Jaemin pinched Jisung’s cheek again, laughing to himself. 

 

“See you tomorrow Jisungie. Good night!” He said, and Jisung waved him goodbye as his sister dragged him away to the apparating platform. Jisung’s chest felt just a tiny bit tight at the scene. He really wished he had family to do the same for him, but he knew that no matter how magical he will be, it’s not something he can’t just wave his wand and create for himself. 

 

He tried to shake the sour jealousy out of him. Jaemin was nice to him and actually wanted to approach him and be his friend. He already accepted a long time ago that any parents or siblings is not something he was going to have. If he had the chance to at least make a friend, he wanted to hold on to it. 

 

A booming bell sound suddenly rang, startling the young boy. Jisung instinctively looked back, and realized that one of the walls of the castle now changed. A formerly blank, white jade wall changed into a wall with a clock-like circle engraved into it, with both the minute and hour hands being the green vines that seemed to have decorated the entire outer layer of the castle.

 

The clock struck eight, signifying it was in fact, already curfew time, at least for the 1st to 3rd years. Jisung realized he was talking with Jaemin for far too long, He sincerely had no time to waste outside anymore. He sprinted into the castle, running back to his room. Better start off the year well than finding out what a magical school offers up as punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story up until now :) It's a slow burn but I hope it wasn't all too frustrating to read for now. I also need to say there's going to be a lot of pairs in this story, some of them I'm sure of (like chensung) and some are still being decided. Pairing tags will be added as I upload the chapters. If you'd like to reach me or talk to me in general, my twitter handle is @yanvels. ( ps. forgive me for the incredibly generic japanese names I used for the oc's/places. I'm uncreative af.) ( extra ps. do note that if you see me editing some things.. I do fix several details every time I think i've gotten something factually wrong. JKR actually did write about Mahoutokoro, and I would like to be true to her writings, so please bear with me.)


	2. Misleading Glances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter two is here!! First of all, thank you for the kudos and bookmarks and of course, my comment from the first chapter - you've all made me very happy. I'll be honest, I did some major cutting on this chapter. I had like two more characters to introduce... but it'll be way too much. It already had more words than the previous chapter. I hope you all forgive me for making seven year olds sound so mature, but honestly, they won't remain seven for long, at least. I hope you liked what I added <3 also the storm petrel thing is something I totally forgot about in the first chapter, so i kinda just tried to fix it lol. Please forgive me for any spelling problems, I ended writing on like 1am and I'm not a native english speaker so I might've missed things anyway. and well... enjoy!

Jisung woke up that morning to the oddity of Suzu seemingly imitating a rooster. It was the first day of classes, and the bird seemed to think that waking him at the crack of dawn was necessary. He could only be glad he didn’t arrive late to his room last night, because waking up would certainly be a nightmare. The small table clock he had on his lowboy dressing table pointed out to him it was six in the morning, meaning he had two more hours until classes begin.

 

He grumbled, throwing a glare at his proud owl, knowing he could have slept for at least an hour more. The other students his age would only start to arrive at seven, and he felt incredibly victimized by his own pet. Jisung loved sleeping, especially at night when he could finally have some dreamless sleep, something that had occurred last night. Annoyed, he hopped out of bed, deciding to ignore his bird as petty revenge. 

 

Too bad Suzu didn’t seem to care in the least. Huffing, Jisung pulled out his robes and dressed himself, and promptly went over his small school side bag that contained all the books and stationary he will be needing throughout the day. Jisung did not understand the point of inks and quills, but nonetheless made sure he had them, as well as prayed he will not stain his robes today, as he was quite clumsy ever since he was very young. 

 

Jisung wondered if he’s really going to enjoy all the classes. Today, he had Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, Flying as well as Charms. he was incredibly happy he did not have Transfiguration of the first day. Thinking of meeting professor Takanashi made him uncomfortable. He feels like he is too caught up with the staring that occurred the day before, but he was very unnerved by the situation, and honestly, one of the things he hated most was people staring at him.

 

He willed away the thought from his mind. He was determined to enjoy the first day of his school life. Jisung went to Suzu’s cage, opening the golden lined door. He remembered being told that even if a messenger bird doesn’t have any mail to bring, it was still to be released during the day. There was a particular area near the pagoda like palace, that was made particularly for the birds. It was a massive space with different trees planted, no tree resembling the other where the birds played and rested at. Professor Terada also told him once that’s where they keep their giant storm petrels, but Jisung assumed he was kidding.

 

Opening the window and letting Suzu slip away towards the open skies, Jisung couldn’t help but want to be the same as the owl, and be able to spread his wings and fly away. Suzu was glorious as he rode the wind, and the glory depicted in that movie-like scene was something that Jisung wished for.

 

After Suzu left, Jisung looked at the clock once again. It was seven and three minutes. Gathering his things, Jisung left his room. He was so excited. Jaemin will be arriving at the apparating platform any minute now, and in an hour they will be all outside of the castle, meeting their first magical creature. He was so happy. He’s been wanting to once again explore the forest for ages, but was scared of the possible scolding he might receive if he does that mistake again. Last time he didn’t see anything but wisps at the forest, but now he’s ought to meet a new creature he never knew.

 

He wondered if Jaemin would be as excited as he was. Jaemin told him yesterday, that he had time to learn so many different things about magic, but wouldn’t he be as happy as him to start the school year? In a foreign country, in a renowned magic school… even if it was as obvious as a day to Jaemin those things existed, wouldn’t he be excited?

 

Jisung rushed to the apparating platforms, and seen many students already gathered up on them. He waited near the entrance of the palace like school, searching Jaemin with his eyes. He heard whispers all around, and one very loud apparating monitor that had to be one of the school’s staff members with how wrinkly he was. 

 

He finally spotted Jaemin appearing on apparating platform and dashed towards him. “Jaemin!” He yelled loudly, coming right up to the apparating platform. Jaemin seemed not fully awake, but smiled nonetheless when he realized Jisung waited for him. 

 

“Good morning, Jisungie. You waited for me?” Jaemin grinned happily, and Jisung stuck out his tongue, still pretty jumpy and full of energy, as expected of a seven year old.

 

“I didn’t have anything better to do, my owl woke me up at six.” Jisung said rebelliously, but his voice grew more annoyed at the last part. Jaemin pouted sourly, but quickly regained his happy disposition by pinching Jisung’s cheeks. “Ow! don’t do that.” Jisung frowned, protecting the abused cheek with his hand.

 

“I can’t give up my new hobby that easily, Jisungie.” Jaemin grinned at him, and for a few moments Jisung wondered why he came to the apparating platform at all. He could’ve just seen him at their classes and saved himself a whole lot of teasing. 

 

They were about to continue their quarrel when the apparating monitor called out to them. “Kids, get off the damn platform! There are other kids that are trying to reach school on time! Thank goodness after today all this apparating mess is over...” He yelled at them quite harshly, and both Jisung and Jaemin rushed off of the platform. Another student, with bronze skin and dark, slightly curly hair rolled his eyes at them. 

 

Jisung kind of wanted to glare at him, but his mousiness made him hold himself from doing that. The student then continued straight ahead of them, not caring for their reactions. “What’s up with that guy…” Jisung talked to himself, but Jaemin heard the question, and Jaemin certainly does not let any question remain unanswered.

 

“I met that guy this morning, in the Seoul apparating station. His name is Donghyuck, he’s definitely a first year. I heard his mother talking, but I think he woke up on the wrong side of bed because he seemed cranky all morning. I wouldn’t notice him, probably didn’t get much sleep. Like you. Cranky Jisungie.” Jaemin said sheepishly. He didn’t care in the least about the guy, but he was definitely interested in teasing and annoying Jisung.

 

“Shut up.” Jisung pouted, and looked around him. It was literally a sea of baby pink robes that surrounded them. “Is everyone here first years? There isn’t even one robe that isn’t pink…” Jisung noted, and Jaemin examined his surroundings. 

“Hey, you are right… It’s all first years. I also only seen first years in the apparating platforms…” Jaemin stated incredulously. They were both quite skeptical of the entire thing.

 

Suddenly, the giant doors of Mahoutokoro were knocked open. A middle aged lady, with half grey, half black hair and a slightly hooked nose appeared. “All first years, gather over here, sweethearts! I’m professor Maki, and I am your Care of Magical Creatures teacher!” The lady announced, her voice clear cut and commanding. She clapped her hands to hasten the students, but the effect was minoric as she was wearing leather gloves.

 

Jaemin and Jisung exchanged glances, but scurried over to the teacher, just like all the other students that now circled her. 

 

“Well, boys and girls, at most schools, you usually learn in your class first before attempting any outdoorsy session, but luckily for you, your first lesson of the day is related to an integral part of your future life at Mahoutokoro, and quite simply, it won’t do if you remain in the dark about it for much longer.” She said, her grin crossing her entire face as she attempted not to break her composure with laughter.

 

With no prior warning, a giant shadow was casted on them, and the students instinctively looked up. 

 

A flock of gigantic birds, carrying some unknown students on their backs appeared, and slowly landed on the ground in front of the school. 

 

“I hope you didn’t get used to apparating just yet, because quite honestly, they were never the main way to make you reach back home. Today we are going to learn about Mahoutokoro’s giant storm petrels, and you all better listen closely, because from today forward they will pick you up in the morning for school, and drop you back home.” She raised her hand and signed all of the flabbergasted students to follow her as she started making her way toward one of the four bridges that surrounded the school. 

 

“Are you going to stand there like nifflers in a jewelry shop forever? Chop chop, no time to waste here! Don’t interrupt the second and third years, they want to get to class too!” Some of the older students giggled at their younger counterparts, the others snorting over professor’s Maki comment as they entered the school. Most of the first years flushed, their cheeks dusted with the colors of their robes.

 

After finally getting over themselves, the first years grouped up and started following their teacher. The petrel flock flew high above them, as if leading the way. They reached the ‘Owly Forest’, the place school kept all the students’ birds. Many owl screeches greeted them, and some owls even flew down to say hi to their owners, Jaemin’s owl included. It was scops collared owl named Gureum, and the bird flew around until Jaemin held out a finger for it to hold onto with his legs. The owl rubbed its head against Jaemin’s hair before flying away. 

 

Jisung figured that if he had that sweet of an owl his life would be easier. The only thing Suzu did to greet him is fly down to peck his shoulder, climb up to his head and leave. Jisung didn’t even manage to pet him before he left! When they’ll both be back at the room he will have to make up for that.

 

After that slight disappointment, Jisung noticed they no longer have giant shadows covering them away from the sun. The storm petrels seemed to have reached their nests, resting on top of many giant sequoia and mountain ash trees. Their nests were so big Jisung could still see them looking from way below. The trees nearly bended when the large birds landed, and with trees this stout, you couldn’t help but be amazed by the birds sheer size.

 

It was in the middle of the owl area, the storm petrels resting on the tallest trees as the kings of their sky. Professor Maki seemed satisfied with the gaping mouths of the kids, enjoying their look of bewilderment. She came up to one of the tree trunks, and started knocking on them gently with her hand. Jisung looked attentively, trying to figure out the rhythm of the knocks out of curiosity, but it was quite hard when her figure hid what she was doing.

 

One of the petrels let out its own screech, and and spread their wings once again. The bird took off to the air, flying in circles around the superlative trees it lived on just until it reached close enough to the ground to land right in front of the students.  

 

It was huge, regal bird that had a black beak and dark, brown feathers that had an almost patterned white markings. Birds don’t really scare Jisung, neither do their pecks or claws, but even he had to gulp a little at the sight. The bird didn’t look mean, but it sure did look intimidating, and it stared at the students as if it was judging every and each one of them.

 

Jisung felt stupid for not believing professor Terada about the petrels. Especially now when the bird literally stood tall in front of him. A regular person might just be believing the bird was a phoenix from its stature and confidence. He’ll never doubt the teacher ever again.

 

“So, who wants to ride it first?” professor Maki asked, and more than half of the class stepped backwards. “I’ll have you know that it’s mandatory to leave and come on them, and you might not want to give them a reason to dislike you all already.” The woman hinted, and there were whispers between all of the students. It wasn’t that the birds weren’t cool or anything. But the thought of riding a huge, judgemental looking bird that was busy flying circles in light speed just seconds ago just seemed very.. threatening.

 

Professor Maki was about to volunteer someone when a hand was raised in the crowd of children, grabbing her attention.

 

“I want to try it, professor.” Jisung looked back to see the kid from before, Donghyuck, stepping forward confidently. 

 

“Yes, yes, come forward! Jutan is young but is quite used to students, nothing to worry about.” She said, patting the neck of the humongous bird. Donghyuck edged carefully towards it, making sure to not make it upset. He made it all the way to the professor quite easily, and when he was close enough, she showed him how to pet the animal. 

 

“Professor, where is its’ saddle?” Donghyuck asked when he saw there wasn’t even one laid around.

 

“There’s no logic in bringing something you would use, dear. Now quick, hop on, before he’ll get annoyed with you scratching his neck.” Donghyuck was confused for a second, but the professor rushed him to climb on the bird through its wing. In no time Donghyuck was situated on the bird’s back. “Now, Lee Donghyuck, right? hold onto the neck feathers.” She instructed, Donghyuck immediately complying. “Do you have a secured grip, sweetie?” She asked. The boy nodded, expecting further instructions.

 

“Okay then. Jutan, around the island and back!” The woman said, pushing the bird forward. In an instinctive reaction, the birds opened its eyes, spread its wings and rose up from the ground. Donghyuck let out a slightly panicked gasp, but by the time the bird stabilized on the sky, all he had on his face was big, stretched out smile. 

 

A bunch of both excited and shocked students let out cheers and shrieks as the bird flew farther away up to the sky and around the Island. One student raised his hand in concern, though. “Professor… isn’t the bird too… uh, fast?” He questioned carefully, eyes open wide at the sight. Jisung agreed wholeheartedly. Even if he was kind of jealous of Donghyuck right now, he still wondered how they boy didn’t fall off with the way the bird just stormed through the air.

 

“Well, my dear boy, how do you expect to reach home in time for dinner otherwise?” professor Maki inquired him back, but the boy had no answer. “Mahoutokoro has been known for making students get over their speed fear, though if it’s any consolation, we do have spells that we can use if there’s a special case.” She said, coming up to the boy and ruffling his shaggy hair.

 

In two minutes time, the bird was seen again, seeming larger and closer as it escapes the skyline. With an an almost bumpy stop, it landed back on the ground, its claws scratching the surface of the grassy earth. Donghyuck’s laugh could be heard faster than they saw him, but even when they did, it didn’t change the fact he was glowing with excitement as he ran a hand through his now messy hair.

 

He petted the crooning petrel as he got off of him, his elation still obvious on his face. He was jumpy and giggled even a bit more as his legs found the ground again, the adrenaline still rushing speedily through his veins. “That was so fun!” He exclaimed at his beaming teacher, who was very pleased to see that now many of the students had that sparkle in their eyes, practically begging to be the next ones to ride the bird.

 

“I’m glad to hear that, dear. Now, Jutan, you can go rest.” She told the bird, and the petrel spread his wings once again, going back to the treetops. Protests came from the disappointed children, pouts becoming a uniform in a blink of an eye. Professor Maki snorted, waving them off. “All of you should’ve volunteered when I gave you the chance. Unfortunately, living creatures are not machines, and Jutan needs to rest before he gets to take one of you all over Japan or beyond. Also, this is a class, and now we need to get to the textbook portions. Unless you want to fail in your first quiz, of course.”

 

The entire class seemed to have sighed in the same time, all of them thinking of nearly the same thing - they really should’ve took off on the bird when they had the chance.

 

-

“I hate to admit it, but he looked so cool when he went off the bird…” Jisung said, his signature pout plastered to his face. It was lunch time, and he was sitting next to Jaemin, talking about their eventful morning. Jisung stuffed his mouth with his omurice, grumbling a little while chewing on his food.

 

“Jisungie, if you want to be bitter, at least swallow your food first.” Jaemin laughed, earning himself a side eye from Jisung. “You know, I think he’s a muggleborn. He was in the ministry alone in the morning, when we were going to the apparition platforms. He kind of just walked after me and my sister to figure out where to go. I kind of felt bad for him. Looks like there wasn’t any reason to, though.” He said, watching Donghyuck excitedly explain how it was to fly to some other students on the far edge of the table. He seemed to be popular within the student body.

 

Jisung’s dislike kind of dissipated at that. He must’ve had it hard. Jisung, at the very least, have people that help him and guide him, and had a room in the castle all for himself. He had so much support himself that it was hard to remember that not everyone has that support. Jisung felt a little bad with himself. He should really stop being petty.

 

“I guess he’s okay.” he gave out, and Jaemin pinched his cheeks with a wide smile. Jisung slapped his hand away and huffed. 

 

“Another victory for Nana! Improving people every day..” Jaemin narrated his so called ‘win’, and Jisung couldn’t help but laugh himself. 

 

“Jaemin, you are super weird.” Jisung said to his face, and Jaemin stuck his tongue out to him in recoile. Jisung just shrugged.

 

“Oh? Jaeminnie?” Someone called from behind their backs. Jaemin recognized the voice, and quickly turned back to see look at the person.

 

“Johnny hyung!” He called out, coming up from his seat to give the older boy a hug. Jisung stared at them, mostly confused. Johnny was a tall, lanky teenager, and his eyes were a tad bit lighter brown than Jisung’s own eyes. He had soft features, and wasn’t really intimidating, considering the goofy smile that stuck to his face. “Jisungie, this is Johnny! he’s a fifth year and I knew him since I was a kid. I was with him at the feast yesterday, before I realized I’m definitely not the only Korean first year.” 

 

“If that’s the only reason you sat next to me, I have to say I’m hurt, Jaeminnie.” The older boy teased, and Jaemin very quickly shook his head, awkwardly chuckling as he denied the statement. “You are the kid that he noticed back then! So your name is Jisung? I’m Johnny, fifth year. My Korean name is Youngho, but I never really went by it.” 

 

Jisung nodded. Saying Johnny would probably feel weird on his lips, but Jisung met enough American Koreans in the orphanage to know that usually they see their American name as their day to day name. He suspected he once might’ve even been adopted if he had called them by their correct names. Probably they saw him as disrespectful. But he was five, could not pronounce Cecilia and Josef, and very confused. Their loss.

 

“How do you two know each other?” Jisung asked. His first question would have actually been how is Johnny so tall at age twelve, but even he knew that it would be more polite to not immediately ask someone about their appearance. That’s insensitive, he thought, as he was reminded of all of those time people asked why he looked like a mouse. Though again, the children in the orphanage were also in fact, five.

 

“Well, my aunt is friends with Jaemin’s sister. I lived with my aunt ever since I was five, and came to visit the Na’s a lot. His sister also had the tendency to take him everywhere with her, so practically every Sunday I saw him at my house. When I got my acceptance letter he cried his eyes out begging me to take him with me.” Johnny remincised, chuckling at the memory. Jisung thought his eyes were fooling him, but Na Jaemin was truly glaring at another person and it was shocking.

 

To be fair, he only met Jaemin yesterday.

 

“If you are just going to embarrass me then go back to the 5th years tables!” Jaemin said, attempting to turn Johnny towards his year’s table. Johnny just stood in his place, letting Jaemin’s thin hands to attempt pushing him away. He messed up Jaemin's hair halfway through it with one hand, and leaned forward, using the other to give the younger a half hug.

 

“I need to go anyway, I didn’t eat anything, and Defense Against The Dark Arts became brutal this year. I rather not have my stomach growling when I face my boggart. See you later, you two.” He waved his hand, and Jaemin sort of pouted and half-heartedly waved back. Jisung almost forgot to do that himself, but lifted his hand way too late and did the same, despite the fact Johnny wasn’t looking anymore.

 

“I can’t believe he said that. Jisungie, I didn’t cry. I was really jealous and kind of tried to steal his letter but…” Jaemin kept rambling, and at some point Jisung just started filtering him out, lost in his own thought. Johnny reminded him that he should probably go to Yuta at some point today, though he sort of felt awkward about the idea of barging into the conversation at the 5th years table. Not to mention he’d be attempting to steal their prefect, which probably has more duties on him on the first day of the year.

 

He looked up to see their table, resting in the middle of the room. Yuta seemed to be the center of the table, enjoying bugging some other boy that had the sharpest face he ever seen. His jaw was so sharp it was mind boggling. They laughed around. Yeah, he’s not getting anywhere near that table right now. Yuta might come to him later, anyway.

 

“...It was so funny, you have no idea. His aunt is so short compared to him, last year I’ve been over at his house and he just got to a bit more than 170 cm, every time he stood next to her she made him sit down. Aunt Sunny is really the funniest.” Jaemin kept talking, and Jisung’s eyes wavered a little, knowing very well that he missed around five minutes of that conversation. He faked a laugh real quick, that it’ll look like he’s been listening. 

 

He might have not been the best as acting, but at least Jaemin was happy as he chattered away.

 

-

Yuta did come to him afterwards. He just finished an hour and half of herbology, and he felt like he was going to fall asleep standing. He liked the teacher, but the entire class was basically exposition to what they will learn during the year. Jaemin actually did fall asleep during it, and was held back for a talk with their professor about it. Jisung was just happy he managed to hold on.

 

“Jisung!” Yuta called from the other side of the hall, and Jisung looked to his left, seeing the prefect rushing towards him and his friend from before following slowly with him. “Still awake, huh? First year Herbology is basically nap time. Good job!” Yuta said, his signature smile spreading on his face. Jisung gave him one back for the compliments.

 

“I did my best.” He said, and Yuta pat him twice on the back, acknowledging. 

 

“I’m sure you did. Headmaster Miyamoto gave me your schedule, you are doing flying next, right? If you want, me and Taeyong over here can help you with the basics before it starts. We’re both on a quidditch team, you know.” Jisung looked at Taeyong, for a moment. He was really handsome, and seemed reliable. And he was definitely Yuta’s friend, so he could probably just go with it. But he still had to wait for Jaemin…

 

“I need to wait for my friend…” He said dejectedly. He read about quidditch, and even saw some fourth years practicing it during the summer. It looked really hard, and they had to be amazing flyers to actually make it to the team. He would kill Jaemin for going to sleep and being held back. He could still hear the professor preaching him through the door.

 

Yuta and Taeyong both snickered to themselves, the latter having to bit his lips from laughing too loudly. “Your friend is really a poor thing. Professor Kobayashi is really proud, he takes everything as an insult.” Taeyong said, and Jisung made a mental note to not mess with that teacher. He could live without being held back for half an hour.

 

“Well, then. I will catch you later then, Jisungie. If you would like, the offer still stands. Taeyong got excited about the fact that I’m mentoring a korean kid, so he will probably still come to bug us again. Not that its new or anything, I basically adopted all of the korean kids here, including him.” He bragged, Taeyong rolling his eyes.

 

“Stop acting like Taeil and Doyoung don’t avoid you like the plague.” Taeyong reminded, his hands crossed across his chest. Yuta glared at his friend quickly, but didn’t say anything. Despite the fact Jisung had no idea who were they talking about, he opted to believe to Taeyong.

 

“Taeil avoids everyone, and Doyoung is… eleven. going through puberty or something. He told me he hates people that chew too loudly while he’s reading, and that was in lunch time when he was about to finish ‘Quidditch through the Ages’. You can’t hold them against me.” Yuta defended himself. Jisung quietly thought it sounded like Yuta was making excuses up, but held his tongue. 

 

“Can’t blame them. You’re annoying as hell when you want to.” Taeyong jabbed, making Yuta punch him in the shoulder lightly. “Just kidding, just kidding. They both definitely have their reasons, though.” 

 

“Stop making me seem bad in front of the kid, he’s gonna want to have me replaced in the end.” Yuta jokingly said, only to see Taeyong giving Jisung a hinting grin. 

 

“Hear that? If you ever get tired of Yuta, you can come to me, Jisung!” Taeyong added happily. Yuta came forward and blocked Taeyong from Jisung, ignoring his friend completely. 

 

“Anyway, I will catch you later. I hope your friend survives professor Kobayashi.” He said, turning to leave as he dragged his friend with him. Taeyong was still laughing at him as they disappeared from view. Jisung didn’t really time his goodbye well again, but this time opted to just leave it be, knowing the two weren’t really paying too much attention anyway.

 

Jaemin better be getting out of the class soon though. If he had to skip another cool offer like that Jisung’s going to riot.

 

-

 

Jisung didn’t really need Yuta or Taeyong’s help, in the end. Three months after that conversation, and most of the first years will begrudgingly admit he was certainly the best at flying in their grade. It ticked off some of the purebloods in their year, especially when people said he would probably be recruited early to one of  their quidditch teams, but it only took some glares from Jaemin and Yuta ratting them out to the teachers for them to be keep quiet.

 

He wasn’t very hurt by the words they used to say. They can shout filthy mudblood as much as they’d liked, as far as he cared, it was just some made up word he learned about when he joined the school. They can also shove it if it was his nationality that bothered them - it wasn’t as if they didn’t know that when it comes to foreigners Mahoutokoro cherry picked according to talent. He was proud.

 

At the same time, he wasn’t thrilled every time they put something gross in his food, or how they had the audacity to hexed his room’s door and locked him for an entire day. He didn’t come to the school to be bullied. He was promised that he was here to be protected, but the as time went by his schooldays were a daily prank show broadcast.

 

He was lucky he had Jaemin to cry on, when it all started. His friend hated it, and regularly stood up for him when other students picked on him. They rarely did it publicly, but whenever they did, Jaemin made sure it was enough of scene that they’d either shut up or flee in seconds. Yuta later on got involved when he saw one of the cases, and made sure that not only they will be punished for the same amount of time they bugged Jisung, which was nearly a month, but also reminded them that as prefect he can suggest adequate punishments, and that he will only suggest the worst if it will happen again.

 

That entire month was hell for him, but at least he had people to help him that time. He was well aware he was a bit of a strange kid, and even in the orphanage he didn’t really have friends. He only had his caretakers to comfort him, back then. Despite the fact he loved them, they were exhausted, mostly old ladies, that couldn’t deal with bullying in their establishment nearly as well as they thought they did. 

 

That part of his life was over, and certainly isn’t going to return, but scars remain. 

 

However, there were some relatively good parts during that month. Initially, he didn’t really like Lee Donghyuck. Nothing serious - he just thought the boy was kind of stuck up. He was super talented at literally any subject. He wasn’t as good as Jisung at flying, but Donghyuck was an all rounder, and got the best grades in practically everything. He was very confident and witty, but also very snarky, so even if he attracted people’s attention, he used to seem… unlikeable.

 

All of that being said, Donghyuck definitely made him change his mind. He stood up for him too, nevermind the fact he barely knew him, and the fact that Jisung was pretty unpleasant in general to him. The first time it happened was at the library, and certainly left the biggest impression.     

 

_ “If it was up to me, I wouldn’t even allow mudbloods read our level’s books. Actually, they should just section off this entire library so only purebloods could enter.” It was a second year, glaring specifically at Jisung. His first year sister stood right beside him, snickering and agreeing. That girl was nasty, always yelling at the house elves in her dorm for stupid things, like how she hates the dish they made or how they didn’t fold her clothes. She was quite famous in the girl’s dorms for being a mean and spoiled. _

 

_ Jisung tried to ignore it. He had his astrology book to focus on and he was determined not to take any bait from those bullies. Jaemin was right beside him and was already starting to get mad, but as much as Jisung felt bad with the situation, he didn’t want Jaemin to get into a fight and get suspended or something. He gave him a pleading look, and Jaemin groaned, but remained quiet. _

 

_ “I mean, clearly the halfies and the scums start rebel the minute they are given anything.” he added on shortly afterwards, his words dripping with poison. Jaemin furiously jumped out of his seat, his chair knocked backwards. Jisung had to block him from going to punch them in the face. _

 

_ “Don’t you dare compare him to those mur-” Jaemin started, but suddenly the bookcase near him started spitting out books, all towards the bully, several hitting him in the head. His hands covered his  head now, trying to shield himself from anything else, and his sister stood shellshocked, backed into a corner as her brother clutched his head. _

 

_ There was silence plaguing the room, the four people in the scenario trying to understand what happened. Donghyuck came into view with his redwood wand in his hand and a lofty grin on his face. _

 

_ “Of course you’d like that, I mean… as a second year that haven’t even gotten a full on pink robe, you don’t really have a lot of brain to back yourself up. Doesn’t it suck that us mudbloods are doing better than you?” he asked, unflinching when he said slur. He actually didn’t seem to care even to use it. _

 

_ “You..!! Talk about yourself, you filth! Can’t even distinguish an insult when it’s in front of your face! Not that you are wrong, anyway. You are lowborn mudblood, and that’s all you’d ever be!” The other boy yelled at his face. There was barely any reaction from Donghyuck, that seemed more bored than anything. At this point, children started to gather around, crowding as they witnessed the fight. _

 

_ “You are definitely right. I am a mudblood, so is Jisung. We will always remain mudbloods. And you will hate it. Every time I’ll pass a test and you know that you failed it last year, the moment Jisung will be offered a spot on the quidditch team early when you won’t even pass tryouts on year four, because for all your purebloodness you can’t be considered anything more than so-so at best.” The eruption amongst the students around them was astonishing. Nearly all of them were gawking, and the rest were too busy snickering as they saw the bully’s face of horror. _

 

_ “I don’t care about that name, you know. It doesn’t say a lot when you see purebloods like you managing to embarrass their entire family. It’s funny. Anyways, it's a library. Stop screaming and let people read.” He ended it with that. The bully’s sister almost immediately grabbed her brother and dragged him away with her, red from embarrassment while her brother was red with anger. Donghyuck didn’t even look back at them.   _

 

_ He casted a levitation charm with a swish of his wand, returning the books he flung at the bully go back to their place. The crowd slowly left, all smirks and grins at the show. Donghyuck then looked at Jisung, his eyes glimmering with more empathy than he had ever seen in the two months he had known him. _

 

_ “Don’t let people walk over you. We don’t deserve that.” He said, and left. _

 

Now, Donghyuck was basically sitting with them every lunch. He was still the same annoying kid, but now Jisung viewed took it kind of positively. Even with all of his more agitating traits, he had a warm aura, a good head on his shoulders and an incomparable sense of humor. He had vibrant personality, and now that Jisung could see all the colors, he felt like a fool that he ever saw the boy as anything but a friend.

 

Surprisingly enough though, Donghyuck seemed to click with a lot of people pretty well. He didn’t really stick to one group (although Jisung is very prideful of the fact that he spends the most time with him and Jaemin) and wanders around, hopping onto conversations and just ran around and talked to people as he wanted. Donghyuck told him why, too - when he discovered he was a wizard, he started feeling like the impossible can be made possible. He felt limitless. So even if he felt shy, or nervous, he could only try his best and step up.

 

Jisung thought it sounded liberating. Then again, when you have such a stand out personality, it's no wonder that he pulled that off.

 

Right now, he was with one of his older friends, a fifth year. he was also Korean. From what he knew, fifth year had only three Korean students (which was sad, really) and Jisung already knew Johnny and Taeyong, so the last one had to be Taeil. He was reminded of that conversation with Yuta and Taeyong a while back, saying Taeil avoided everyone. Back then he wasn’t really curious, but now that he had a little more background about him from Donghyuck, he really wanted to know him.

 

He only ever really seen Taeil speaking to Donghyuck, each time for afar and usually not for very long. He had dark hair and graceful features. He had calm feeling to him, subtlety being his main trade. Taeil kept to himself, but with a bit of persuasion from Donghyuck, he gave a little room for the younger to be his friend.

At the start, Jisung thought he understood Taeil pretty well. He generally believed that if he hadn’t had Jaemin and Donghyuck for friends he would probably be the same. He even said that to Donghyuck once on their lunch break. Too bad he literally laughed at his face when he did.

 

_ “You are nothing like Taeil hyung.” He stated, his voice unstable from trying to contain his laughter. Jisung pouted, huffing out at the plain disregard to his view. Donghyuck patted his back as Jaemin joined and started teasing Jisung about his pout. “Don’t be like that! You just really aren’t. Like… he doesn’t have your confused baby chicken feeling to him. And really, he’s just… different, in a lot of ways.” _

 

_“Hyuckie, you know now you have to tell us why.”_ _Jaemin chimed in. Donghyuck seemed a little hesitant, but shrugged off the uncomfortableness. Why not, he figured._

 

_ “Well, I can tell you what most fifth years know. He doesn’t really talk about it, but you know, he’s a half breed. I only read about half breeds before, back when I just got my letter and access to magical books. I was really excited to meet one. Jisungie, don’t look at me like that, it’s not my fault you don’t read your Care of Magical Creatures guidebook. A half breed is a being that was born to two different… uhm, beings. Like how there are half-kneazles, you know? Half cats, half kneazles.” Donghyuck explained. Jisung was processing the information. He assumed it only happened in animals, or magical beings. Taeil looked so.. human. _

 

_ “Taeil is half human and half siren. His father’s a merman, a warm watered one. The ones that look more like humans. People kind of ignore him… well, he mostly ignores them, too, but he’s so cool. He has a kelpie hair wand core, he can speak mermish fluently, he can survive three days underwater. Three days! He also has the nicest singing voice. I got hypnotized when I first heard it and tripped on a desk. That's how we met. I don’t think he would have talked to me if I didn’t fall though, so I’m not really mad about it.” Donghyuck rambled excitedly. Jisung lifted his head, to look at the fifth years’ tables. It took a while until he spotted Taeil, who was sitting at the very side and eating silently. Jisung couldn’t imagine the boy was anything but a human. He didn’t seem like those fairytale sirens, and definitely did not look like those fish like selkies or merrows they’ve learned about.  _

 

_ Donghyuck hit his arm, and Jisung glared at him. “What was that for!” he yelped, rubbing his upper arm. “That hurt!” _

 

_ “Well then, don’t stare at hyung like he’s alien if you want to avoid it. He doesn’t like all the judging looks. He had a hard time with it. And it’s not like a half veela, or a half giant, that you see all the time. Taeil as far as the wizarding world know is the only half siren there is. So don’t look at him like he’s a freak. He kind of believes it anyways..”  _

 

_ Jisung grew quiet. It frustrated him that Donghyuck spoke so logically. Sometimes he wondered if he was actually their age. He felt bad for staring, and he punished himself to only look at the ground, as stupid as it sounded. “I’m didn’t mean to.” _

 

_ “It’s all good, Jisungie. We know. Right, Hyuck?” Jaemin patted his back, trying to lift his spirits. Donghyuck nodded. _

 

_ “Yeah. But if you get comfortable and do it again, I might have to hit you again.” He joked, bringing his arms up into something similar to a karate movement, throwing chops around casually and lightly tapping on Jisung’s shoulder and arms with them. Jisung, despite his previous demeanor, snorted, and just started blocking the boy instead in a similar fashion.  _

 

_ The boys continued the play, Jaemin adding himself into it afterwards. Later that night, Jisung thought to himself, that maybe it’s okay to make mistakes, knowing his friends are there to correct him. _

 

Jisung shook his head. He was in his daydreams for much too long, his tendency to let his mind wander winning against him every time it had the chance. To his defence, he didn’t really have anything to do from after three. Jaemin and Donghyuck always leave by then, storming off to Seoul on the giant petrels. So every day after classes end, he somehow remains alone in his room, and just thought to himself.

 

He couldn’t bring himself to bother Yuta or Taeyong. They were both so busy with quidditch teams, their exams, their friends… he wasn’t like Donghyuck, he couldn’t just walk up to someone and initiate conversation. He didn’t really know anyone aside from his two main friends, really, and if he was to be honest, he wasn’t really comfortable with approaching any older students. 

 

A strike or helplessness hit him. He felt as if he was in confinement, just like that day months before. People raved about how good he was at flying for his age, but he wasn’t even allowed too far away from his room after classes were done for the day. That day, he was so scared of getting lost,  _ being _ lost, he forgot the beginning, when he stepped out of the castle and relished in his escape.

 

He spared a glance at his window. It was still bright outside, the clock just just hitting four. Suzu was still out in the forest, playing with the rest of the owls and will continue to do so until late in the evening. It didn’t take him long to contemplate his options.

 

Jisung left the room. He felt like a man on a mission as he walked through the halls of the school, slipping to the entrance as quickly as he could. He didn’t fear punishment, not anymore - he already knew the punishments in the school rarely end up being something other than detentions and temporary magic ban. He didn’t particularly care for that. He lived seven years of his life without magic, he could handle some restrictions to his current, beginner level abilities.

 

He trailed down the same path he had took that day in the summer. The bridge had once again chosen him as he stepped farther away from the school. The entrance to the forest was the same, but with seasonal tweaks, as the grass the surrounded it was yellowish, the green patches that filled the place before losing their color and bowing to the sun with a golden sheen painting them.

 

His memory was not clear enough to remember just how he got that forest clearing, so he wandered around just as he did the first time. He didn’t particularly care for where he would end up. As time passed, he realize that the island was small, even if layered and secretive. Teachers knew every bit of the landscape, from the woods of the owls to the sandy beaches of its shore, where they occasionally caught students escaping to anyway.

 

The walk wasn’t really tiring, but repetitive. His ears were already accustomed to the sound of him smashing leaves under his feet, and yelpes that preceded rustling of running, small animals could be heard all around. Ever since Jisung started learning Care of Magical Creatures, he was sure that he had better things to be afraid off, so he tried to pay it no mind. 

 

Of course, distracted and too far gone in his own mind he found himself tripping on the forest floor, and on nothing in particular. As the earth became more angled, featuring slopes and molehills, Jisung’s small feet proved their inexperience, surrendering to the forest floor. Jisung yelped as he hit the ground, scraping his knee on a calloused rock. His trousers got torn from around the calf, and a few drops of blood trailed down his leg. He winced at the ugly sight of his wound. He never liked blood.

 

He stood up, ignoring the injury. He had worse before. As a child he liked to move around, like to run. Wounds similar to this had been inflicted on him many, many times by his rash decisions.

 

It was not hard to find himself focusing on something else. When he looked up, a familiar blue spark floated around him. Jisung smiled, being fully aware of the wisps. They will lead his way. He followed them, his knee stinging slightly as he walked. At the very least, if they’ll lead him to the clearing like before, he could at least wash the blood in that pond.

 

Jisung was not disappointed. He looked at wonder as he took in the fall’s doing to the scenery of the clearing. It was recolored in the face of autumn, orange and yellow and even dried out brown. spider lilies bloomed sparsely, but beautifully as they framed the clearing. Only the pond was the same clear blue, but had flower petals and leaves floating on the water, letting its calm movement to dance and drift across the pond.

 

It was a marvelous sight, but Jisung didn’t care for the beauty. He cared for the change, for the way that just a few months ago this place was green, warm and different, and now the the leaves have turned away from the summer, and the stood strong and changed as the cold winds came determined to strike them away.

 

Jisung looked to his leg, his flat and harmless wound looking like a grave injury from the way the blood coated it. It looked positively painful, when it was not at all. Jisung feared that he would stain his already torn pants, and rushed to the wooden platform above the pond, kneeling on his uninjured leg at the very edge of it.

 

He doused his hand in the water, bringing his now wet palm above his wound, cleaning his skin from the blood that overflew it. Midway through his action, Jisung felt a shiver down his spine. His hand stopped moving as he felt a familiar feeling.

 

Someone was watching him.

 

Jisung did not dare to look back. It was not exactly the same as before. He was not in turmoil, or upset to begin with, was not plagued with his past. His mind was clearer, and was functioning much better compared to the last time. His heart may have drummed in his chest, but he could think. He held his breath as he heard movement behind him, and grew more and more stressed as it grew closer.

 

There were four, indisputable clanks on the wooden platform. Whatever was behind him, it was certainly not human. Jisung broke away from his frozen state, needing to breathe before his lungs give up on him. His first instinct was to run, but he didn’t have anywhere to go. He tried to calm himself down, trying to think about happier things. About his friends, his pets, flying. 

 

But Jisung knew that it won’t make the problem behind him disappear.  _ I have to deal with this. I can’t run away anymore. _

 

With eyes tightly shut and wavering breathing, Jisung started to look back. He slowly opened his eyes moments later, when he realized nothing happened when he moved his head backwards. He was not prepared for the sight.

 

In front of him stood a creature so terrifying it looked straight out of his nightmares. It was a winged horse of sorts, but much more sinister - it had a reptilian, dragonish face. Bat-like wings, leathery and stretched out sprouted out of each side of the beast. Its entire body was gaunt and revealed any bone that was under its greyish skin. But what was most terrifying, was most certainly its eyes - pupil-less, white eyes that stared into his soul, unblinking. 

 

Jisung couldn’t bring himself to yell or sob. He was too scared to move an inch of his face as he stared back at the beast. His body still supplied the tears, making his eyes glisten and his vision blurry. He prefered it that way. He had never seen such a thing, he only wanted it blocked away. 

 

The beast didn’t seem to care for Jisung’s fear and blatant display of weakness. It looked resigned, at most. It looked backwards for a second, and Jisung let his tears fall at that moment as he watched the scene in front of him. He didn’t notice how many of these creatures were in the clearing before, but it seemed to have been at least thirteen others, just standing there in the grass, or resting near the spider lilies. 

 

Two very small ones suddenly appeared  from behind the larger one that stared at him before. He immediately turned around with his entire body, his feet facing them. He did not trust these creatures, and couldn’t help but back away as they came forward. 

 

The small ones, the babies, he thought, didn’t back away, though. They inched closer, stopping near Jisung’s injured knee, that still had blood smeared on it. They started licking the blood. The bigger ones seemed to be glaring daggers at him, threatening with its pale eyes that if he moves the consequences will not be pleasant.

 

When his knee was clear of blood, they edged closer to him, to his hand. It didn’t have a lot of blood, only fragments of it, but nonetheless they licked it all the same until it was completely clean of any redness. The small babies crooned, bringing their heads against Jisung’s belly, rubbing against it almost thankfully, regardless of how it moved due to his panicked breathes.

 

Jisung let out a whimper once, and then another, until it became a string of wails, but the tiny winged horses remained by his side. Their eyes stared at him solemnly as they kept rubbing their heads against him, as if trying to console him. One even moved back to his hand, to rub its snout against the back of it. 

 

When he finally returned to his senses, the creatures were standing there, just watching. He sniffled, but kept quiet. What did they want from him more? If they wanted to eat him, why don’t they do it? At first he was terrified, now he just doesn’t understand.

 

The big one, the one he assumed was the mother of the babies, came a bit closer to him. Its eyes softened quite a bit from the former glare. As it stepped forward, it lowered its head, essentially kneeling to Jisung, that was still sprawled on wooden platform. Jisung didn’t know if it was out of gratitude, but he didn’t have any better guess, considering respect was basically thrown out of the window the minute he started wailing, at least in his opinion.

 

He gave it a hesitant nod, if only because he had nothing else to give. One of the younglings pushed his head against Jisung’s back, encouraging him to stand up. Jisung wiped away all of his remaining tears and obliged, not wanting to upset the small creature.

 

Both of the babies were standing near to him, but only one of them gave out another croon as he leaned against Jisung’s leg. Their mother cleared the path for him, and moved its head, looking at the entrance to the clearing and then back at him. Jisung looked forward - There was a blue wisp at the entrance, its light blinking as it asked Jisung to notice it.

 

_ They’re telling me to go back,  _ his mind supplied. All of the other winged horses stared at him as he connected the dots, but stayed unmoving. He looked again at the mother creature and its babies, giving them a quick nod he felt obliged to give. They made a few noises, but none sounded mad or feral, so he assumed it was safe to leave. They didn’t seem to want to hurt him, not at all.

 

Nonetheless, it was enough for the day. He looked back several times, looking at them returning to what was their regular wildlife routine before he disappeared back into the forest, the wisps leading him back to the safe palace of Mahoutokoro. It was nearly seven, the sunset starting to set into horizon. Jisung didn’t have much time until Suzu will return from the owly forest, but he had a bit more than an hour until curfew, so at least he was somewhat safe.

 

He reached the school around half an hour later, and suddenly realized how his torn, slightly bloody pants might not be the best thing he could walk around with. He tried to stealthily go back in his room, avoiding all the possible main hallways that will surely will expose him to some fourth years or anyone older.

 

Then again, even with planning, he was never the best at sneaking around. He was so close to his room, just a few staircases away from it, but he was caught off guard by some moaning crow that had placed himself on an open windowsill. Jisung nearly bolted the other way when he heard the crow’s voice. In retrospect, he might have been better off if he had bolted for real, considering what happened afterwards. 

 

The crow jumped from the windowsill and morphed into a person. Not only a person, but a teacher. Not only a teacher, but particularly, professor Takanashi. 

 

“The forest did a number on you, didn’t it?” He ask rhetorically, clicking his tongue. Jisung gulped, realizing he was found out long ago.

 

“Yes, sir..” He admitted, unwilling to look at the older man. His eyes were fixed on the floor, but not from shame, just pure distress and lingering awkwardness that remained since the first feast.

 

“You handled them well. The Thestrals, I mean.” He told him, and Jisung lifted his head in question. Thestrals? 

 

The teacher noticed his confusion. “The winged horses you have seen in the clearing, boy. Quite respectful of you that you didn’t scream or peed in your pants when you saw them. The babies seemed to like you, one more, the other less, but still.” He said, and Jisung was petrified in his spot.

 

“How… how did you know I was there? I… there were only me and the horses…” Jisung asked, finding this situation much scarier than the creatures in the clearing were.

 

“Thestrals, Jisung. And just because you didn’t see me, doesn’t mean I wasn’t there. You don’t seem to notice much of the smaller details.” He snorted, and Jisung eyes wavered. Was this teacher spying on him? “I didn’t matter, in that situation. You’ve handled yourself just fine, especially considering you were  in the face of death.” He added shortly after.

 

“They wanted to kill me?” He spluttered, his voice as small as could be. The creatures, albeit their horrifying appearance, didn’t seem hostile to Jisung. The babies especially seemed to like him, so why would they…

 

“Foolish boy. Of course not. Thestrals are the face of death, because they’re linked to death. You can only see them after you’ve seen and understood the death of another. They’re always there, but just like me, you can’t always see them.” The man grinned, and Jisung was unnerved by the comparison. His hands clenched and unclenched uncomfortably.

 

“Are they… are they dangerous, in any way?” He felt more in danger in this situation, but he rather stir from any conversation about the man in front of him and whatever he does.

 

“There are many things out there that want you dead. Many things, things your little mind wouldn’t even be able to imagine.. but luckily for you, not the Thestrals. But be careful, child… most things are not as gentle as the Thestrals, and in any other case, if they were in hiding before… well, I’d suggest you’d run.” he warned, his facial muscles conjuring the deepest frown Jisung had seen.

 

“Now, run along to your room. You’ve abandoned it for long enough.” Professor Takanashi patted his shoulder, Jisung nearly flinching away but held himself the best he could. The professor then turned to leave, and Jisung remained stuck in place until the teacher left his field of sight, and relaxed his tense muscles.

 

He didn’t run. He bolted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked the chapter. Did you like the addition of Donghyuck, Taeil, Johnny and Taeyong? I honestly love writing about Taeil, I have a whole profile made for my half siren!Taeil. (well, I have an entire doc about all the characters and their pasts.. so..) I should warn there are two more halfies incoming, and you are welcome to guess who and what they are. anyways, you are always welcome to speak to me in the comments if you wonder about anything. You can also catch me on @yanvels on twitter. Thanks for reading!


	3. Late Admissions, Late Explanations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> phew... that took a long time! first of all, apologies to those who waited - it had been a very rough month, had a lot to do. Turned twenty on sunday and I barely had time to write, haha. Superhuman and DNYL were also SUCH good releases, NCT had us well fed klsdlkj anyways, when it comes to the story, some notes - we added relationship tags today because finally we got mark and jeno! I hope you like how they are presented, because it was a RIDE to decide how to write them. I also should mention - the places I wrote about when it comes to summer vacation section are real! Pungnam Gate exists, Hanok village does too, future places i'll write about exist in the real world as well. I hope you enjoy the chapter, because I think soon enough some plotlines will really come in!

 

The last bits of the year went by in a blink of an eye. Jisung avoided professor Takanashi to best of his ability after the night he was found by him, swearing that the moment Transfiguration becomes an elective he would ditch the class and never talk to the man again. By now the man gave himself an impression of a stalker, for not only his unnerving know-it-all speech but also his tendency to watch Jisung from afar. He was much more terrifying than the Thestrals he had met that day, and Jisung was willing to stand by that thought no matter how many times Yuta tried to convince him that the teacher is harmless.

 

Unlike the teacher, the Thestrals he met at the forest seemed nicer and nicer every time he got to meet them. Jisung had developed a habit of sneaking out of the castle after school hours, and had found himself in the Thestrals’ company each and every time. He was correct about them - they were not hostile at all, and albeit their fondness for blood (and blood alone, human flesh did not seem to stimulate their appetite) they held no more dangerous traits than any average horse.

 

They never seemed to leave the clearing, and Jisung wondered why he didn’t see them the first time he explored the forest. The question was answered a couple of weeks later, when he finally gathered the courage to ask professor Maki about the creatures. They were just finishing their lesson about bowtruckles, and all of the students were getting prepared to finish up their day and go home on the storm petrels.

 

_ Jaemin and Donghyuck waved him goodbye as professor Maki prepared the giant petrel for their ride to Seoul. He stood silently, knowing well that he had no reason to be there - after all, storm’s way cliff was a cliff designated for the petrels to take off from and go on their journey with the children on their backs. He never had anywhere to go, he always remained at the school - so his friends just stared at him awkwardly until they took off on the bird. _

 

_ “Mr. Park, is there any reason you still aren’t heading back to your lodgment?” The professor asked, not bothering to look at him as she brushed the feathers of one of the petrels that were off duty for the day. Jisung shifted awkwardly on his feet, but nodded his head despite his nerves. He was extremely stressed about the fact no teacher mentioned and talked to him about his visit to the forest. If professor Takanashi hadn’t told anyone then it means he’s outing himself, which is incredibly stupid on his part… but he still very much wanted to know what he could on the Thestrals… _

 

_ “Go on, then. I don’t have the entire day.” She huffed, clearly annoyed to be interrupted as she worked. _

 

_ Jisung’s throat felt a bit dry, but he knew he shouldn’t annoy the woman more than he already had with any more silence. “Uhm, I was wondering… I.. um. Read about Thestrals… I wondered if there are, uh.. laws, to seeing them? How would it like… unlock? I’ve wondered about it because- ” Jisung stammered, trying to find a convincing enough cover up to his entire story. He should’ve really planned it better. Luckily for him, the professor stopped him in his tracks. _

 

_ “And I thought you were here to flatter me. Stop babbling, it’s unbecoming of you. All of us teachers already know you visited the clearing, it’s not anything new.” She chided, finishing up with the storm petrel’s feathers, letting the bird fly away. _

 

_ “You do?” he cringed, his attempt at covering up for himself was not only a bust but also for nothing. _

 

_ “Of course I do, I’ll never forget professor Terada telling us about how you ran to his arms crying. He felt incredibly bad for you, he begged the headmaster to not give you a punishment.” She replied, walking down her very own memory lane. Jisung gave out a sigh, but of relief - they only knew about the first time! He can work with that!  _

 

_ “Oh… well. My older friend told me there’s a herd of the Thestrals, living there… I wondered why I couldn’t see them. Because I… I already seen…” He mumbled, disraghaut. As much as he was aware of what happened, he also wanted to forget. Those deaths were engraved in his mind, unrelenting - but he forced himself to accept it, just like many other things that he couldn’t deny. He teared up a bit, just enough for his eyes to turn glassy under the sunlight.  _

 

_ Professor Maki seemed to have softened a tenfold after Jisung spoke, and she gave him a sad smile as he blinked away his tears. “Dear, just like how we knew of the incident in the clearing, we know what you’ve been through. Nothing that you deserved, nothing that child like you should have seen. Don’t hide your emotions when they’re weighing you down. No teacher here is afraid of tears. As for your question… Thestrals are, what we might say, sympathetic creatures. They have a hideous appearance, they look like fear come alive, you wouldn’t believe me unless you’ve seen them… but in their nature, they’re darlings. Very patient and understanding compared to other magical beasts. It’s in their blood and flesh, to only appear to a person after he processed the death and won against their grief. A Thestral is a dangerous beast in front of people who deserve it, but they’ll never be cruel to one who experienced trauma. It is my theory, that they are here to haunt those who did vile things, and comfort, those who had genuinely suffered a loss.”  _

 

Jisung pondered for days over that thought. He had never thought about it, but he indeed felt watched the first time he was at the clearing as well.  _ Just because you didn’t see, doesn’t mean it wasn’t there,  _ he reminded to himself, shuddering slightly, for the voice in his mind sounded just like professor Takanashi. He chose to believe the winged horses were on his side, and he had no reason to believe anything but that as he remembered them only being supportive of him after his initial fear.

 

He went to visit them so many times afterwards, he almost felt bad for leaving them alone for the summer. Jaemin invited him to join him for the vacation, saying Yoona even pitched the idea to his mother after they heard he’d be staying at the island. Jisung was so happy when Jaemin asked him - none of the older students he knew were staying, and despite the fact he liked the school, he didn’t want to end up in his room for days on end with his only fun escape option is sneaking out to the forest. 

 

More than that, he was also incredibly excited. Jaemin lived in a wizarding house, that had been passed on for years from one Na family member to another. It apparently had so many enchantments and spells on it that it might have even become slightly sentient, something their house elf Ilgeob had to handle for years. It was fascinating, and he wished Donghyuck could have joined them, but to no avail. His mother missed him too much to give him away for the summer.

 

It didn’t take a lot to convince the headmaster either, something Jisung was very grateful for. He, along with a couple of professors agreed that it will be good for Jisung to see how wizard life is like in his own home country, and let him go without much of an hassle.

 

He remembers how he trembled when he prepared himself to be appareted with Jaemin and Donghyuck to Seoul. They were wheeling all their luggage to the platform, they sweaty hands needing to adjust themselves to the handles of their suitcases over and over again. Jisung was slightly disappointed they were not going on a petrel back home, but clearly the poor birds didn’t need their feathers to get stuck in suitcase zippers or wheels. They may be strong but carrying two hundred children and their luggage was just too much to ask of them.

 

Jaemin told him how everything was going to happen - at first, Mahoutokoro’s staff will apparate them to Seoul’s Magic Ministry, where their country’s Hall of Transportation was located. They will meet Yoona there, and together they will all apparate to Jeonju, where his family lived for basically centuries.

 

The first impression he got from the Ministry of Magic was that it was far too crowded. There were tons of people walking about, to the point it looked like an airport with extra departments. They were in the Hall of Transportation now, that was basically a hall that had a whole bunch of magical fireplaces for wizards to use to go wherever they wanted. Jaemin told him it mostly worked on floo powder, but their school always used apparition so it won’t be consistently connected to the floo system. They were worried about intruders getting in. The only day that you could use floo powder to come to school was the heavily guarded first day.

 

Yoona was waiting for them patiently in the hall, her height not letting her go unnoticed in the sea of people that surrounded her. Jaemin’s owl, Gureum, crooned when he saw her from within his golden cage. Both of his and Donghyuck’s owl joined in, though they chose to screech instead. Yoona spotted them easily as the noise grew louder and louder.

 

Her heels were clicking on the marble floor as she approached them, and the boys hurriedly tried to get off the platform with all of their luggage threatening to slip off of their small hands. Yoona laughed and whipped out her wand.

 

“Accio.” She said and she swished her wand gracefully, the luggage quickly wheeling itself towards her. The three birds in the cages screeched as their cages were pulled as well, but they quickly calmed as the suitcases reached Yoona and the cages were once again safely layed on each suitcase.

 

The three kids ran up to her, chasing the runaway luggage hurriedly. Jaemin frowned at his sister for giving him a scare. “We could have wheeled it over there. My own suitcase almost ran me over!” He exclaimed unhappily, and Yoona just messed up his hair, giving him a smile. 

 

“As if I’d let anything run you over. Come on now, boys. You have no idea how many people are here to wrap to their vacation spots. We better send your friend off to Jeju before he won’t be able to squeeze himself into the line.” She said, and the boys looked around, seeing the massive lines that stood in front of the fireplaces that were being used as transportation from the ministry.

 

They added themselves to the shortest line of the bunch, but even then it took nearly fifteen minutes to get the start of the queue. Donghyuck went in first, as he had to go to Jeju to his worried mother. His mother particularly has been sending in letters throughout all of spring, feeling helpless for not being able to help her son with any magical endeavours. Luckily for her, Donghyuck was always an independent kid, and despite his age adapted well to the world around him. Yoona went up with Donghyuck to make sure he remembers what to do as he went by himself.  

 

Him and Donghyuck were really ought to thank the Na family. He didn’t meet Yoona or Jaemin’s mother all that much, but the two women consistently helped them. They sent magical items as gifts on holidays, knowing well that Donghyuck’s family will not have the access to such thing and that Jisung simply didn’t have any family, they treated them well and while Jisung didn’t have any need for such a thing, the boy knew that Jaemin’s sister came to Donghyuck’s mother before and helped her register Donghyuck as a wizard in the Ministry as well as herself as a wizard’s mother, along with sparing much time giving advice and help to the muggle woman.

 

Donghyuck disappeared into green fire as he yelled out his hometown’s name. Now was their turn. Jisung was lucky the floo powder system grew more advanced in the past few years, and now they can use the fireplace together instead of going one by one. He couldn’t imagine trying to do it himself - he knew the flames were harmless using floo powder, but the heat of the green fire was distracting and distressing. He would probably end up in another side of the world if he had to say the words himself. 

 

“Jeonju Village Underground!” Yoona called, and the green flames engulfed them. Jisung shut his eyes tightly, experiencing the transportation way for the first time. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help but open his eyes for a split second to see it - unluckily for him, all he saw was the stature of a tall man in the crowd wearing a sad smile on his face as the green fire erupted. When they finally reached their destination, Jisung started to cough as he accidentally breathed in some sooth and nearly choked. Jaemin slapped his back several times until Jisung got a hold of his breathing. 

 

“Are you okay, Jisung?” Yoona asked him as he coughed just a few more times, trying to beat the odd, sandy sensation at his throat. He nodded uncomfortably, inhaling several times until he relaxed and allowed himself to look up.

 

They were in a well lit hallway with only eight floo fireplaces to it. The flooring wasn’t fancy marble like in the ministry, it was pure asphalt, but the walls were covered from wall to wall with paintings of animals, scenery, and the supernatural in an old Korean style. It was beautiful, from the tigers, to the wingless dragons and mountains that were painted beneath the unrivaled sun that shone above them all.

 

He surpassed a gasp, and Jaemin grinned at him as Yoona spoke to the guards, who apparently knew her. “We could have just went to my house, we do have our own fireplace built in, but sis wanted to show you more wizard-dominated places. Our house pretty close, though, so it’s not that bad. Over here is the underground of the Hanok Village.” He said. “Ah, the guards gave way, let’s go.” He said, taking his luggage in his hand, and Jisung following suit.

 

Their house really wasn’t that far. They did walk a lot inside the underground, as Jaemin told him they had to get out at one of the very last exits, but the walk to the house itself.. was something else. They were led up a staircase that ended up in some kind of crossroads. they were in front of a roundabout. The places around it weren’t really impressive. In front of them, however, in the heart of the roundabout, stood the Pungnam Gate. It was built on top of a stone foundation, that in the very center had a wooden entrance, but what caught Jisung’s eyes were the red pillars that stood atop of the stone, holding up the curved, tiled roof of the gate. Throughout the wood there were colorful, intricate carvings of various shapes. The gate was symmetrical, to it sides fenced staircases that would otherwise lead to matching red pillared pavilions on both left and right side.

 

Jisung had only ever seen that gate in pictures, when his caretakers attempted to teach him and the other orphans of Korean history. He’d never thought he will be here, but that being said, he’d never imagined he would be given the chance to go anywhere. Jaemin and Yoona walked confidently towards the gate, however, so he just followed them quietly, until they reached to the wooden entrance, under the shade the stone foundation provided. 

 

Jisung really didn’t understand what they doing, knowing the gate to only be for people to see - they would just end up in the other side of street. Yoona however, tapped her wand on the door seven times in particular shape, as if she was trying to draw a constellation on the door. An unlocking sound was heard, and Jisung flinched. The doors of the entrance were opening slowly showing an entirely different scenery from the street he had expected. 

 

There was a big house that looked like it could be some sort of smaller palace owned by King Sejeong himself. It had a huge hibiscus bush garden in front of it, along with four Korean red pine trees that stood tall, positioned in a square shape through the garden. Jisung wanted to say it was fenced, but it was more gated, in the same architecture style of the Pungnam gate itself. 

 

If Suzu’s cage wasn’t attached to his luggage, Jisung might have just dropped all of his things. When Jaemin invited him to his house he expected maybe a pretty big private house, he didn’t expect an old aged palace house. “How…?” He barely managed, trying to process it all.

 

“Oh. The gate is a passageway with several passwords. When we use ours, it a portal to our house.” Jaemin says lightly, like nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Jisung would never stop being surprised by Jaemin’s life, he was convinced of it. 

 

-

 

Jisung woke up to the bright light of the sun shining. It had been around a month since he arrived at the Na household, and he doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to the big guest room they gave him. It was wide, with more space than he ever needed. There were tables and drawers and closet for him to store whatever he needed, paintings on the walls and handmade pots of flowers for decoration, and there was even a high platform on the floor, framed by a surrounding three steps staircase that his bed was laid upon.

 

It was such a shame that Jisung was barely ever in his room, using most of his time to hang out and play with Jaemin. The boy took him to so many places - from common regular market places to wizarding alleys, where all the magic begins. One of the experiences Jisung remembers to be especially unique was meeting the ghosts of the people who truly had once lived in the Hanok Village. Jisung nearly ran away when he saw one ghost named Hwa Salchok, that had several arrows through his body marveling over the restoration of his old house, and especially the added electricity now that the place served as a guest house for tourists. 

 

He discovered that at night time the ghost are more apparent, because after he finally convinced Jaemin to leave the place rather than chatting with the ghost, they literally could not avoid them that night. Jaemin did explain that it was an annual ‘survivors’ march, where ghosts of several different generations had come together to celebrate the restoration and the ‘survival’ of their beloved village.

 

Despite the fact that Jisung was scared as hell, even he had to admit that it was really fun. It was a good decision to stay there and watch until the end. The ghosts may have been dead, but the fireworks that took place and grandiose partying of all of the participants made for a fantastic show. Their singing had been absolutely awful, but he can’t blame them. Some of them didn’t even have ears.

 

Jaemin had a lot of fun though, and sang with them, albeit the fact he was actually in tune. He says that every year it was like a days early birthday party for him, as the march was done on the 6th of August and Jaemin’s birthday was on the 13th. Jisung actually had bought him a samoyed keychain in one of the regular markets they went to, knowing how much he liked the dog breed. It was a small gift, but he had also made a dairy-free cake with Yoona the day before, so maybe that kind of counted as an added bonus, or at least he hoped it did.

 

Nonetheless, he hoped the cake and present will lift Jaemin’s spirits. Yesterday morning an owl came to the Na’s family home. In fact, the house had shifted and changed its master’s paths as soon as it arrived, not so subtly telling the family someone of importance have written to them. While Jisung lost his mind over Jaemin’s house being sentient enough to do such things, Jaemin had found the letter and read it, seeing it was addressed to him. 

 

Jisung remembers how Jaemin’s expression went sour. 

 

_ His eyes trailed over the words in the later, each movement deepening the frown that sunk on Jaemin’s face. He had a minor pout, but not one of his playful pouts. It made the boy look mad, or at least annoyed, but Jisung could only guess that it seemed more out of place because of the fact Jaemin rarely let his smile disappear from his face.  _

 

_ “What happened?” He asked carefully, slow in his delivery of the words. _

 

_ “My mother. She’s not coming tomorrow, in the end…” He said, and Jisung expected some kind of a bitter tone, but was met with one filled with disappointment instead. Jaemin placed back the letter on the table the owl left it on.  _

 

_ “Oh... “ Jisung couldn’t find the words to reply. Jaemin had been excited for his mother’s return the entire vacation, as the last time he saw her was around four months back, before she went on one of her political business trips. She was currently in China, he remembers Jaemin telling him. She was there for some settlements and collaborations that were supposed to happen between the Chinese and Korean wizarding communities, and she was overseeing the projects herself. She was supposed to return in early August, but it seemed that was no longer the case. _

 

_ "Jisungie, I'll go wash up. I feel pretty gross." He said, his goofy smile not really reaching his eyes. He didn’t attempt to look at Jisung as he left the room. Jisung was a bit torn if he should go after and try to cheer him up, but he thought it wasn’t quite the time. The boy clearly wanted to be alone. Maybe he could come crash in his room later. _

 

_ “He got the news from mother, didn’t he?” Yoona popped out of nowhere, standing in front of the open door. Jisung jumped slightly as her voice woke him from his thoughts. He nodded to her to confirm her suspicions. Yoona sighed sadly. “That’s a shame… she told me a few days ago she was trying everything to get there on time to his birthday..” Yoona said, the dejectedness he saw in Jaemin making an appearance in her too. _

 

_ Her eyes wandered to a lone picture that stood in the hallway, of the Na family, or more correctly, the parents and Yoona when she was a child. Jaemin’s father looked very much like his son, with a more of squared jaw, and eyes a bit more sharp than the boy’s. Jaemin wasn’t born at the time, but Jisung did catch the other boy staring at that picture quite a bit. _

 

_ “Jisung, would you like to make a birthday cake with me for now? Me and mother always made him ones at home, because we wanted him to have some actually pretty dairy free cake. I bet it’ll make him a little bit happier.” She offered awkwardly, but he could see she was genuine.  _

 

_ Jisung didn’t take a long time to decide before he followed Yoona to the kitchen, praying that his clumsiness wouldn’t let him mess up this one. _

 

Jisung left his room at around 10 am, knowing neither he or Jaemin would be willing to leave their beds before that. The entire house was already decorated, courtesy of their hardworking house elf. There were several flower assortments, many signs with various ways to congratulate the boy, as well as a ton of miniature magically popping fireworks that would show themselves as Jaemin walked by them.

 

Yoona was waiting in the dining room, the chocolate cake they made sitting in the very middle of the map covered table, along with many dishes that Jisung knew Jaemin liked. Jisung also knew they were supposed to go to some wizard escape room of some sort later - Yoona found it earlier and it was somewhere in Ilsan, so she told him they’ll probably go by portkey, whatever that is.

 

Jaemin finally came out of his room around half  an hour later, his eyes weary as he just woke up. He came out in a pyjama as he rubbed his eyes, more than likely on his way to the kitchen for some water or something like that. 

 

The look of horror he had on his face when he they suddenly started scream-singing the happy birthday song was priceless, and Jisung wishes he had a phone to take that picture. Perfect to tease him with when he gets too brave.

 

“When did Ilgeob even managed to make all of this?” Jaemin asked immediately after they stopped singing, causing the house elf that was currently hiding in the corner to flush. Yoona laughed, while Jisung thought to himself he’d probably react the same if he just passed through a hallway and a dozen of magic fireworks were fired off. And maybe he was also hung up on the fact that Jaemin got scared of their singing rather than the said fireworks.

 

“Hey, we made the cake!” Jisung pointed out, but Jaemin just scrunched his nose playfully. His smile was bright, and Jisung was fairly proud of himself for that. No matter the fact it was kind of awkward to attempt baking with Yoona, it was a pretty successful attempt.

 

“Thanks, I’ll make sure to skip on it.” Jaemin replied. Maybe not so successful attempt.

 

Jisung was still proud of himself.

 

It was a breakfast for the two kids, but they truly ate anything they could off the table, not caring if it’s only the first meal of the day. Jaemin midway through even managed to convince Ilgeob to eat with them despite his house elf etiquette, begging him, saying it was his birthday wish. The entire meal went by so nicely and Jisung was so happy that the dark cloud above Jaemin’s head disappeared. He was so worried that the disappointment of yesterday will affect his mood on his birthday.

 

They were stuck to their chairs after all of the food, stuffed and maybe just a tad bit bloated. Yoona was still maintaining her posture, and couldn’t help but laugh at the two boys that just seemed to decide their chairs were beds for that while.

 

At some point, the house shifted, the door opening by itself and showing a different outline of what they were used to. Yoona stood up, volunteering to go check what is so important now, while Jaemin and Jisung kept arguing which of the dishes on the table were better. They were both very passionate about their favorites, and anyone who knew them also knew they could go on for hours on end fighting about food. Even right now, they only stopped when they saw Yoona returning.

 

She had a folded newspaper in her hand, but much thinner, seemingly only one article on the paper and at the same time a very important one, if the bolded, emphasized font meant anything. Yoona wore a disturbed expression on her face, her teeth chewing on the lower lip unapologetically. 

 

“Jaemin… I think we’re going to have to cancel our trip to Ilsan for today.” She said, her face guilty as her hand clenched around the paper she held.

 

Jaemin’s face turned sour just like yesterday, and now resentment was starting to show. “What now?” He snapped, his voice much lower than usual. Jisung thought that maybe he should reach out to pat his back, but Jaemin wasn’t even looking at him, and he felt like he wouldn’t accept anything but an answer.

 

Yoona sighed, but didn’t say anything. She gave her brother the newspaper, that was more of a breaking news edition. Jaemin unfolded it, and there was a moving picture on the paper. Some kind of vacation house burning up in flames, young wizards barely escaping with their lives on the backs of older ones.  _ The rebels set fire to a pureblood owned property in Ilsan,  _ the title read in big letters, the  _ breaking news _ hovering above them urgently.

 

His and Jaemin’s eyes went over the article.  _ The half blooded rebels are returning… threats has been sent to the ministry of  magic… more attacks are expected and purebloods are highly advised to remain safe in their homes….. _

 

Jisung wasn’t sure what it was all about, but he saw Jaemin’s face becoming red with fury. Without any warning, he threw the paper as far away from himself, groaning. He could see a few tears forming on Jaemin’s eyelashes, and Jisung carefully brought his hands to Jaemin’s back, trying to comfort him, not knowing what else to do.

 

“This always happens! They always ruin things!” He yelled, and Yoona came closer, giving the boy a hug. Jaemin let himself burst in tears as he felt the hands around him, and didn’t stop until his sobs became strained croaks. It hurts to see him like that. Jisung never knew this was a problem for purebloods, never knew there was such a thing in the wizarding world, but the article made in clear - this was a return of nothing short of terrorists. They struck before and they’re striking now, and Jaemin’s family was living in fear because of them.

 

It was only when Jaemin went back to his room that Yoona started talking about it. The half-blooded rebels, were wizards of a ‘lesser’ blood status that came together to erase the privilege of older pure blooded families. They felt discriminated against and started attacking purebloods, no matter if they were innocent or not. She didn’t want to expand on it much, the topic seemed too personal, but it wasn’t that hard to understand her when she told him her and Jaemin’s father died in one of those attacks.

 

Jaemin didn’t even get to know him.

 

At night, before he went to sleep, Jisung brought out the samoyed keychain he had bought for Jaemin. He scribbled a short sentence on sticky note he found.

 

_ Happy birthday, Nana. Next time, we’ll go celebrate just like we wanted. _

 

He stuck it on the keychain, and put the present in front of Jaemin’s door. He doesn’t have much to give, not to someone who seemed to have almost everything - but if Jaemin needed someone to be there for him, he will be.

 

-

Summer vacation was over, and they became second years. The return to the school was exciting, and honestly a big relief for both Jaemin and Jisung. After the incident on Jaemin’s birthday, the two boys were mostly confined to the Na family estate, and barely went out to trips longer than a few kilometers from the house. It sucked, because they wanted to go see Donghyuck in Jeju, but they were restricted to only writing him letters. Jaemin’s mother did promise that she will buy him a phone sometime this year, so at least communication wouldn’t be as big of a problem next summer.

 

The main hall was decorated just like how it was last year, vibrant cherry blossom trees drizzling petals over the student in a pure fantasy display, and Jisung felt a bit nostalgic seeing all those lost kids wandering around, unsure of where to sit or what to do. 

 

Jisung, Donghyuck and Jaemin were all sitting together, mostly focusing on their food. They already heard the headmaster’s speech the year before, and knew that they definitely aren’t getting anything like a magical cherry this time, so they just waited, whispering around until the feast was over. The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the gossiping around the table.

 

A few people have mentioned there was an odd occurrence for the school. Apparently Mahoutokoro added in two new students to the second grade, and for a school that prides itself in being both selective and throughout, if you weren’t in Mahoutokoro from your first year, there was little to no chance of getting into it. Having  _ two _ new students was quite a shock. 

 

There were a few pointing fingers that gave away the students in question, and it was confirmed when they received their lucky cherries from the bowtruckles. One of them was a round faced child, with big eyes and a curious demeanor. He was nervous and a bit fidgety, but his giggling made him seem likeable. He seemed to be entranced by the school and he was overexcited, showing varied reactions to everything magical he had seen. Jisung could only assume he was a muggleborn. 

 

The other one was very different. His face was like a sculpture, his facial features shining despite his age. Jisung would almost say he was gaunt, but he didn’t seem ill, or too bony, but he was pale and his demeanor was slightly grim. He was sitting next to the other new student, and that guy seemed so bright and happy that compared to him the second student seemed scared. He was definitely handsome, though. His eyes turned to crescents when he smiled, even if he only did it out of politeness.

 

When the feast was over, Jisung was nearly depressed. Donghyuck and Jaemin were going home, and he was going to be once again living in his lonely room. He knew he shouldn’t be dramatic, but he got so used to live in Jaemin’s house for the past month, it became what he saw as home. He didn’t want to make either of his friends sad, so he kept quiet, but it felt so lonely, knowing that they’re going to their families while he remains left behind.

 

Jisung didn’t let himself cry. He never had a home anyway, he’s eight years too late to start crying about it.

 

At the very least, he would be able to see the Thestrals again.

 

-

The next day, he found out the new boys had made quite an impression.

 

Well, on Donghyuck and Jaemin, at the very least. Apparently both students were from South Korea, and spent practically the entire morning with his two friends. The round faced one - Mark, Jaemin told him - was pretty nice, but he seemed to be kind of wary of things. He seemed pretty shy, despite his optimistic demeanor. Apparently Donghyuck came off too strong when introducing himself and now Mark is probably scared of him. Jisung wasn’t even surprised and believed it without a hitch. Donghyuck can ramble for forever about how he never scared the kid, he’s pretty unaware of how he affects other people.

 

As for the other kid - apparently named Jeno - he was intensely reclusive. He barely opened his mouth, and even when he did, he practically murmured. He wasn’t mean or anything, but he was avoiding the three others students throughout the entire ride to the school, and that’s kind of hard when you are sharing two giant birds to reach your destination. 

 

Their day continued indiscriminately, though, and the children went on their way as usual. Mark and Jeno were around each other at almost all times. It was only natural for them to be more comfortable with who their first met. Donghyuck said they got close because they both lack humor, something deduced from the morning, but Jisung knew that he was still bitter about not being able to get along with the muggleborn. 

 

It was actually hilarious to see Mark trying to work his way out in classes. He wasn’t bad at magic, he was actually pretty good, but his obvious lack of experience made him forget key points. He missed an entire ingredient when they made Babbling Beverage in Potions, thinking the last one was the name of the inventor of the recipe. The end result was him trying out his own brewing like an idiot and not being able to say anything but ‘ppa’ for a few good hours.

  
The fact all of the class joined in and answered him like the screeching seagulls in Finding Nemo only made it funnier. 

 

While Mark was dragged by their Potions professor to the infirmary, Jeno was left alone at the break. He looked absolutely lost in the large hallway, his eyes wavering as he tried to decide where to go next. Both him and Mark looked lost for very obvious reasons, but now that Mark was not by his side he looked like a lost puppy searching for his owner. He had a nervous pout on his face and ended up chewing on his bottom lip. At first Jisung didn’t think about it much, it was just a nibble, but blood surfaced on his lips in the matter of seconds. 

 

“I think we should go do something…” Jaemin whispered to him, concern woven in his voice. Jeno was trying to hide the blood with hand, but only made himself look as if he was about to throw up. It wasn’t a nice scene, and Jisung would’ve been terrified if it happened to him on his first day.

 

“Hyung, do you still have that tiny tissue packet? I think he’s trying really hard to hide the blood…” As soon as Jisung suggested that idea, Jaemin started digging through his bag. He found the said packet in one of the leather pockets his bag sported, smiling brightly in victory as he did. 

 

“I never thought that Noona forcing me to take these everywhere will be useful, but I guess I was wrong.” He said, pulling one tissue out of the packet. He then looked up back at Jisung, staring.

Jisung nearly pushed him forward. “Go already, he looks like he’s about to cry!” Jaemin’s eyes widened in shock when he realized Jisung wanted him to go by himself. Already a bit ahead of the other, Jaemin just stuck his tongue to the other and carefully stepped towards the stressed student.

 

It wasn’t like Jisung didn’t want to help him, but honestly, he was pretty shy himself.  _ Jeno probably doesn’t want a lot of people ganging up on him now anyway,  _ he excused himself. Jaemin was at least a familiar face to Jeno, and he can certainly handle what he wanted to handle by himself.  _ It definitely wasn’t because he was scared of trying to take care of people, or something. Definitely not. _

 

Jisung shook his head, trying to shoo away the thoughts. Jaemin just got close enough for Jeno to eye the tissue as if the piece of paper could solve all of his problems. Jeno nodded carefully when Jaemin offered it, and instinctively took off the hand covering his mouth, wiping it clean of blood.

 

He couldn’t see what was hiding behind Jeno’s hand, but he could sure see his friend’s raised eyebrows as he wore the most puzzled expression he had to offer. Unfortunately for Jaemin, the other did notice that expression as well. Jeno visibly cringed and fled without looking back, leaving an astonished Jaemin in its wake and a whole bunch of curious bystanders.

 

Jaemin stood there frozen for a whole minute before Jisung decided to approach him, feeling a little guilty that he hadn’t gone with him now. He patted Jaemin’s back, forcing an awkward laugh. “It’s okay, Nana. At least you helped…” He tried to comfort his friend, that now hid his face behind his hands in embarrassment. “Nana, let’s go, people are staring.” He said, trying to rush his friend away from all the spectators they gained.

 

“Jisungie, Donghyuck is going to kill me.” He said, practically mourning himself already.

 

“Then you are lucky they upped him to 3rd year Potions, Nana, but come on, let’s go…” Jisung gritted through his teeth. He just wanted to get out of there before people will start gossiping. He managed to drag the other away, escaping towards the dorms area. Jisung never knew how useful it was to have a room for himself until that day. 

 

When they finally reached his room, Jisung let himself relax.

 

“Nana, what did you even see? I am sure everyone thinks you bullied him after that.” He exhaled all of his words out, embarrassed himself at this point. Jaemin was sitting on the edge of his bed, trying to sort out the situation himself, making several distressed sounds as he thought about it.

 

“I know! It was so stupid, but he just moved his hand from his mouth and I saw this long, sharp fang and an actual, pierced out hole on his lip and I freaked out!” He yelled, his hands harassing his hair as he attempted to not rip any of it off. Jisung blanked out at the explanation. Fang?

 

“What are you talking about? You’ve been saying weird stuff from the minute it happened. I really can’t follow.” and Jisung really tried to comprehend, but he really had a hard time connecting the dots when Jaemin was in front of him acting like his world was ending.

 

“Jisung, I’m one hundred percent sure I just accidentally shamed a vampire in the middle of the hallway, and Donghyuck is going to  _ kill me  _ because I did the exact thing he tells us every day not to do to Taeil hyung.” He rubbed his temples, getting more stressed by the minute. Jisung chewed on his lip.

 

Suddenly he realized how unusual it was for the nibble to cause such bleeding. He could never do that, his canines far too dull to cause such an injury from some lip chewing.

 

“Oh my god, Donghyuck will murder you.”  

 

“Thanks for the positivity, Jisung. I’m feeling so much better now.” He replied sarcastically, only growing more annoyed when he realized he actually managed to pull some hairs off his head.

 

“Sorry… are you serious, though? Maybe he isn’t a vampire? He doesn’t look so lifeless like the our books say…” Jisung asked in doubt. Jeno did seem to have some features, and it would explain some of his behaviour, but a vampire’s first description is one of a corpse-like, bony creatures with noticeable teeth even when covered underneath his teeth. Jeno did not look like your average vampire.

 

“He isn’t a full vampire, that’s for sure, but I’ve seen half vampires in the past and he fits that, so…” Jaemin replied, and Jisung lips straightened to a line, trying to think of what to say.

 

“You will be able to apologize, later…” He suggested.

 

“He’ll probably avoid me more now.” Jaemin deadpanned, not finding any solace in the thought. Silence overtook the room for a several long minutes. Maybe logic won’t really do any good right now.

 

“...Na Jaemin managed to make a vampire scared of him. Doing the impossible again.” He tried to appeal with humor instead. An embarrassed Jaemin wouldn’t listen to him right now anyway if tries to be too serious.

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Why, what are you gonna do? Stare at me? I won’t run.” He sassed him, looking straight at Jaemin, that now sported an annoyed pout on his face. They held a staring contest for a few long seconds, as if Jisung was proving his point, until Jaemin decided it was enough. Taking one of the pillows from Jisung’s bed, he rose up from where he sat intimidatingly.

 

“That’s it you brat, you better run!” Jaemin exclaimed as his face turned to an unsightly shade of red, and he started to chase Jisung around his small room with the closest pillow from him. 

 

They were late for their next class, but Jisung thought it was worth it. 

-

 

Donghyuck didn’t kill him, but Jaemin did get yelled at. A lot. It was to be expected - Donghyuck spent an year around Taeil and have seen the different reactions and behaviours people have when it comes to magical beings. It made Donghyuck especially uncomfortable to see them judged, and while Jisung didn’t understand why he felt so strongly about it, he could definitely understand how wrong it was to treat magical beings differently, especially after he was under fire from Donghyuck last year himself.

 

Jeno was unfortunately an unconventional vampire, cowering in fear even at the face of dusk. If he avoided Jaemin and the rest before, right now it seemed he thought they were disease ridden. Jaemin tried to apologize several times, but Jeno always fled when he got too close. Mark, seeing his friend felt uncomfortable, also detached himself from them. It made Jisung sad, but there was not a lot he could do about it.

 

He was honestly glad he didn’t have to put up with that all day. Jaemin was sulking more these days, just a tad bit obsessed with making Jeno forgive him. Donghyuck wasn’t too involved, but within one month of knowing each other he and Mark became unlikely rivals. Mark talent with magic showed and he was catching up with the class at high speed. Some teachers even said Donghyuck has competition for the most skillful muggleborn, and that made Donghyuck to start butting heads with the other.

 

Jisung had to admit however, that Donghyuck was the one that took it as a rivalry. Maybe it was their bad start or their rocky interactions, but Donghyuck took whatever bugged him to heart, and Mark followed, entering the competition the other petitioned as a response.

 

The two were sitting so far away now, the opposite edge of the table, divided like how continents were by the sea. Jisung was sympathetic, trying to not mention anything about the two new students while Jaemin was there. Jaemin was not a weak person, but a highly sensitive one. He picked up on social cues faster than others, and it was hard for him to deal with the fact he hurt Jeno in his attempt to help him.

 

“He’s seriously so annoying, just because his charm worked so well on the first try he doesn’t have to smile like the whole world-” Donghyuck was already starting to rant about his daily Mark encounter, and Jisung resisted hiding his face in his palm from how stupid he was being. For a kid that advocated for others on a daily basis, he really needed to stop being so hung up on someone that annoyed him by basically doing nothing.

 

Jaemin seemed sour again, and Jisung was not in the mood to have him sulk again. It was better for him to just move on to other things. Maybe hearing some different news will give him a better expression.

 

“Did you hear about that Chinese wizarding school that was just found? Apparently it was hidden for decades.” Jisung interrupted Donghyuck’s speech, which went highly unappreciated by his cranky friend, but his complaints fell on deaf ears. Jaemin however was glad for the change of subject, and embraced it as it came.

 

“My mom told me something about it. Honestly, I think one of her collaborations in China were about it…” Jaemin replied, wondering a bit to himself as he did. It wasn’t very often that a new wizarding school was found, but on the off chance it did happen, there had to be many, many things leading up to it. China in particular was one of the most secretive countries when it comes to their magic, so discovering a wizarding school was certainly not a shock. If Jaemin’s mother was involved, maybe people found out about that school a whole lot earlier. 

 

“I only know because I heard professor Terada ranting about it, honestly. I think he was upset or something. I’m not sure why, it sounds pretty cool. Your mom really gets all the cool jobs.” Jisung said. Jaemin’s mom really had the best job. He wished he could go on magic related adventures like her for a living.

 

“It’s obvious why, stupid. Mahoutokoro didn’t have any asian school to compete with before! Now we do, and it’ll be another school other kids that could go here are able to attend to. We’re gonna get compared a lot, just wait and see.” Donghyuck said, finally letting go of his previous pout, exchanging it for a deadpan stare.

 

“You are saying it as if there were so many students here to begin with. The real change is that we are no longer the only asian school, so we lose status, as well as the accepting party probably can’t be as selective about students now.” Jaemin corrected, and Donghyuck stuck his tongue out, something that Jaemin mimicked within seconds, not losing to the other. 

 

Jisung rolled his eyes, but was moderately grateful for the two. The two of them arguing instead of Donghyuck ranting and Jaemin sulking was the definitely for the best. It felt a little more natural, more calm and comfortable. 

 

When Donghyuck finally picked up the cherry jam and threw it on Jaemin, the following food fight proved him that his friends are doing just fine.

 

-

 

Jisung came over to the clearing a few days later, hoping to relieve a bit of his stress from his upcoming tests. It was a cloudy day, the sky looking as grey as the tropical weather ever allowed them to be. Jisung didn’t particularly like the cold, but the weather fitted his mood, so he guessed it was right up his alley at the moment.

 

The small Thestrals he knew last year grew so much. They looked like some sort of a middle stage from a full sized winged horse. They weren’t fully grown, but they were growing rapidly. They were running around and being reckless, and Jisung realized they are not so different from human teenagers. 

 

After a couple of unsuccessful runs and jumps from them, Jisung suddenly realized the two were trying to learn how to fly. Their wings were finally long enough to carry their weight, the gaunt muscles that stretched underneath their grey flesh finally showing to the outside world. They were no longer the fragile things that had to rely on their mother for food anymore. Jisung felt a bit nostalgic and anxious at the same time.

Was he already growing up? He learned how to fly last year, and by now he was soaring through the air every time they were allowed on their broom. His heart sunk at the feeling of disappointment in himself. So many people said he would be recruited to one of the quidditch teams for his great control of the broom, but it still didn’t happen. He keeps missing people because of his shyness, and he barely spoke to Yuta and the older friends he knew as of late.

 

Sometimes he felt like he was living without a purpose. His life will never amount to much anyway, he thought. Not compared to his friends at least. Donghyuck was in advanced classes for half of their curriculum, Jaemin was ought to have a magical life considering it was all he had ever known.

 

He, on the other hand…. he didn’t seem appreciated for his talents, all of them wasting away in the dungeon he called a room. And when he will get out of that dungeon, what will he do? He had no family to go to, no magical connections… will he live his life as normally as a simple muggle? He doesn’t want to go back being the orphan kid. He left so much behind, but so much of it is still haunting him.

 

Now he was shaking a bit, the cold wind finally hitting him a bit too hard. His grave demeanor seemed to upset some of the Thestrals, who had neighed at him indiscriminately, though he wasn’t sure if they were telling him to cheer up or grow up. 

 

Rain started falling from the sky, and Jisung had no power to move around and hide from it, simply sitting on the grass and staring aimlessly as he tried to keep his worries for himself, knowing it's better to not upset the magical beasts more than needed. 

 

One of the two teen Thestrals came to him, stopping his flying attempts and shielding Jisung’s form from the rain, his now large wing managing to cover all of Jisung. He crooned, and the boy couldn’t help but smile, bringing his hand to the belly of the beast and petting it to show his appreciation. It was meaningful - the other Thestrals, aside from the younger twins, were all hiding from the rain themselves. Jisung is always amazed by leaps and bounds of empathy the younger ones posses.

 

The calm of the scene was only broken as a roar of sorts was sounded through the clearing. Jisung lifted his head to see the other twin beating his wings through the harsh air, soaring up to the sky, as the rest of its herd roared back in pride.

 

A smile crept back to Jisung’s face.

 

Maybe, one day, that could be him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any question you can ask me over here or @yanvels on twitter.  
> If you have any pairings for the hyung line that you particularly want, by the way, some of them are not set in stone. do tell me if you have any favorite. Slowly we are building up for a more inclusive world, and more of the members will appear soon <3


	4. Melted Snowflakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter... phew. A bit longer than the rest, more than 10k words, but I expected it to be longer, so not so bad. this chapter is the beginning of us diverting from Jisung's point of view to deliver some more POV's. We're slowly expanding the story, I hope you don't mind the change. There are some introduction to a few characters and a lot of backstory, which I hope you will enjoy! tell me what you think. I hope you'll like it. :)

Christmas Eve was always so snowy in Guri.

 

Doyoung walked through the heavy trails of white snow, his legs tired from trying to trudge his way. He knew what he signed into when he decided to go home this winter vacation, but he really hoped it would be better than he remembered. He almost wished he stayed back at Mahoutokoro, but remembered the joy his parents expressed after he said he’d come this time.

 

He hadn’t been home for more than a year, now that he thinks about it. He always chose to remain in the school ever since he began to dorm there. His parents always nagged him to come back for a while, but he always refused. It was hard for him to come back home that year, when he could remember the screams and shouts of the summer day his brother decided to cut ties with their parents.

 

Gongmyung still found it in himself to call Doyoung and send him letters, even if it was only when he was at school. Doyoung used to try to get the reason of the fight out of him several times, but each time it was brought up, Gongmyung would just say that they have different ideals than him, and not long after would cut their calls short, saying he has a ministry matter to attend to.

 

It frustrated Doyoung so much. Just like how the snow around him was falling onto the ground and disappearing into the scenery, the fight between his brother and his parents was flashy and  _ there  _ until it’s reason suddenly dissipated into thin air. The answer was always lingering about, but the silence his family refused to break forced Doyoung into the unwanted state of obliviousness that he wanted so badly to break free of.

 

There was one resounding sentence that came out of that day that Doyoung couldn’t get out of his mind. It was what drove him out of the house, what made him lock himself in his school for so long.

 

_ “You are no better than those murderers I fight at work.” _

 

It scared the living hell out of Doyoung. Gongmyung was an auror, he fought dark wizards and sent them to jail or to their death in almost every mission he went to. What could his parents do that Gongmyung managed to compare them to those killers? He cried his eyes out that day, not knowing what to think. He was so, so scared back then. His house became strange and unfamiliar with his fear controlling him.

 

Going back home now seemed like a dream. He couldn’t tell if it was a sweet dream, a nostalgic daydream or a nightmare. He could imagine so many scenarios and each one went differently, all of them fitting but none could be predicted for sure. He sighed as he tried to push back all those unnecessary thoughts. He had enough of his own anxiety for quite a while now.

 

He could see his humble house from afar already, sitting at the very far end of the city paralleling the view to Achasan mountain. His family was well off, and well respected for a family of half-bloods, and after a decade or so of both of his parents working within the wizarding community, they were selected to take the leading role as the wizards in charge of Guri. They were nothing more than community leaders, but they gained status and finances, and when they had all of that in their hands, they decided to move the family to a bigger, better house that would represent them better.

 

That was around three years ago. If you’d ask Doyoung, he would say that he’d rather live in their old, cramped apartment that at least gave them a chance to interact as a family.

 

He found it odd that the chimney from his house was not puffing out smoke, knowing very well that his mother loved it on, especially in the cold winter months. For her the fire was nearly hypnotizing, and his mother burnt her fingers more than once when she welcomed the warmth a little too closely. 

 

The big window their house had wasn’t open, but the curtains were drawn so he could see into it. His family promised him a quiet Christmas Eve, his mother saying she will make a nice dinner for the three of them and no one more, but there was clearly some sort of gathering there. He could see some strange men taking some note from his father’s hand, and immediately after signing it with some strange looking quill.

 

His suspicions spiked, and he quickly moved before anyone from within would be able to see him. He found himself in front of his own house’s door, eavesdropping as if he was a burglar trying to figure when it was the best time to break in. His ear was glued to their wooden door, Doyoung attempting to get as close as he can to the sounds so he would be optimal at his spying.

 

He could hear the people from within, but they spoke in whispers, too hushed to make out anything out of the mumbled words. Could he really trust that this was an innocent meeting? Every time he remembered joining his parents in a community meeting it was loud and bombastic. Never like this.

 

The snow that fell from above was already piling upon him, powdering his black hair and dampening his new clothes that he only recently bought in the Ogasawara market. It’s a shame, he thought, his first buy in the market ever since the option was open for him back in Fourth year and he already on his way to ruining it.

 

Annoyed and distracted, Doyoung didn’t notice that the whispers stopped. The window to their kitchen, the one beside the door, let him see the flashes of green appearing and disappearing and the boy understood that the people who were there were already using floo powder to go back home. He could hear the thuds of the people within walking and stomping around. It set him on edge. He fled to their backyard, hiding near a locked shed that his father and brother built together with him two years prior.

 

He stayed there unmoving for almost forty five minutes, until everything grew quiet, whether it was his surroundings or his mind. He had to steel himself to come inside his own home, building up the courage and desperation as he grew colder and colder, the weather overcoming his will.

 

He unlocked the door with his old, rusty key that he had stored deep in his bag, sliding into the house quietly, not bothering to say a word for anyone to hear him entering. The house was clean but it was clearly a bit messy, with misplaced chairs and several items looking as if they were moved. It wasn’t like he had to confirm anything more, but he’d assume if his parents kept this from him they’d at least do a better job cleaning up the trails. They knew he was supposed to come, do they take him for a blind fool?

 

Doyoung sighed, but his moment of gloom was short lived as he noticed there were still papers on their dinner table, where had seen the strangers with the weird quill. He walked over to the table, curious and anxious simultaneously, his heart beating in an unnecessary speedy rate.

 

As he edge closer to the table, his eyes scanned the paper. It was a crumpled, scroll-like sheet, that looked way too used. It looked like a hundred people wrote on it, but…

 

It was blank.

 

He was already shaking when he lifted it up, but now he was trembling. Even if there wasn’t any evidence for the worst, he knows that something is happening behind his back. The fact that it still kept under wraps, hidden away from him, and he cannot confirm or deny what his brother say all that time ago, frustrated him to no end. Infuriated him, tortured him, hurt him.

 

There were footsteps resounding from the stairs and his senses spiked, alarming him. He was frozen in his spot, the paper in his hands falling right back to the table as his grip on it grew loose. Clicking heels were echoing through the room, and Doyoung knew that his mother went downstairs.

 

“Dongyoung, is that you love?” His mother exclaimed from behind him, her excitement overtaking her as she flew down the flight of stairs to come near her son. “Look at you! you grew so tall… oh dear, you are completely covered with snow! I should have took you from the station myself…” She said, fussing over him as her fingers made their way to his hair, brushing away the snowy dusting. 

 

“Mother…” He said, cursing his voice for wavering as the words left is mouth. His mother stopped in her tracks, giving him a worried look. She probably noticed him tremble by now, but he won’t give her anything else to be worried about. Suspicious of her or not, she was his mother - he won’t break her heart by letting her know his thoughts.

 

“Dear.. is everything okay?” She asked, holding onto his hands with soft, gentle fingers that let him know he has her support. It only made him feel worse, knowing that right now he doesn’t know if he could give her his support. He let out a dry laugh, trying to make it seem like everything is okay.

 

“I missed you, mom.” He excused, giving her a tight hug, swallowing all of his worries and trying to forget about his worries. “It was really cold outside.. can we eat soon? I think warm food will help.” He gave her a far too stretched out smile, but it was good enough for now.

 

“Of course, love! I’ll go make the food right now, I’ve been a tad bit lazy and didn’t start making anything… Go shower for now, it will do you good.” She admitted and and patted his back. Doyoung nodded, but didn’t say a word as he left towards the shower.

 

It was a shame, but he knows she lied - the amount of stacked up, dirty plates in the sink and the messy counter filled with ingredients said it all. He wants to trust his mother, but it’s hard, when she can’t trust him.

 

-

 

Winter vacation was finally over, and melted away snow was no longer a hinderance. Jisung was excited to the very core of his being. It wasn’t like he didn’t went on his broom for flight during the winter, but today held a very important event, which was the Ice Melting Races that the school organized for 2nd to 4th years annually.

 

The Ice Melting Races was an introduction to the world of Quidditch, in his opinion at least. Mahoutokoro was a bit of strange school when it came to Quidditch, having no teams made by the school staff itself. There were plenty of teams, but each one of them was made by a group of students that banded together.

 

A captain would be the founder of the group, standing alongside with those he recruited for the purpose. After a group has been approved by principal, they were allowed to go into a tournament with other in-school teams, competing for both prestige and benefits. Benefits being the team leading Mahoutokoro into the World’s Teen Quidditch Cup, a competition Mahoutokoro enters every year to not only show superiority, but also give their students a chance to be scouted by a professional team.

 

Taeyong and Yuta are a part of one, a very good one at that. He hoped they’d look into recruiting him earlier, but he couldn’t blame them for not taking him in right away. They never really had a chance to see him fly, and despite his reputation for being pretty good, it would be rather stupid to rely too much on the first years’ rumors. Recruiting generally also only occurred after teams saw your flying abilities - hence why the races were such an integral part to Quidditch in Mahoutokoro.

 

It was not a mandatory thing, only those who wished to join did, but majority of the student body did participate. There were three races, along with a special showy one that belonged to the older students. They were divided into groups - the Snowflake race, that belonged to the second years, the Hoarfrost race, that belonged to the third years, and the Hail race, belonging to the fourth years. The special race belonged to the competing quidditch teams in the school, and was mostly held for bragging rights along with giving the younger students incentive to do their best. The name of that race was the Blizzard race.

 

Of course, Taeyong and Yuta’s team won the Blizzard race. The name of their team was 127, and Donghyuck may have poked fun at the strange name for a while now, but regardless of that, it was really hard to deny the fact they were all  _ really  _ cool.

 

Jisung clapped like a seal when they crossed the ending line first, Jaemin and Donghyuck copying him and calling him cute. He ignored the two of them, happy to see his favorite hyungs winning their race. He felt his body tensing, itching to be on his own broom and fly across the field, holding onto the guard rail as if it was the only thing stopping him from jumping into the scene.

 

“Calm down before you’ll be too excited to race yourself, Sungie.” Donghyuck teased, his hand on Jisung’s shoulder as they watched Team 127 bowing as they were announced winners. 

 

He barely had time to fawn over the win of his seniors before he had to go prepare himself. The Snowflake race took place only thirty minutes after the Blizzard race ended, so he and Donghyuck basically had to run to starting point after getting the flying attire on. 

 

Jisung was the only one with a cheap broom, even Donghyuck's mother went to a wizarding alley to buy him a good broom for the race, no matter how terrified she was. His broom was just okay, a standard broom that didn't have any special merit other than the fact it did its job as a flying tool. Jisung was a bit envious of the others, but he tried to believe that he had the talent to make up for that. At least that’s what Jaemin told him to keep in his mind when he sulked about this before.

 

Jaemin himself was not participating in the race, as he felt like Quidditch tournaments were less of his thing. He used to be in a few competitions for ice skating when he was younger and he found out the competition aspect itself made him lose his interest, and he doesn’t want it to happen with Quidditch. Still, Jaemin wasn’t bad at flying and was pretty good in sports, so Jisung hoped he would change his mind one day.

 

While he spent his time thinking about nothing and everything, time passed, and they already had to move to the high platforms they would be taking off from. They had to race from the highest point of the mountain and circle the entire island until the returned to the same exact spot. That would sound pretty simple, but the path they were given to race upon was filled with ups and downs, and many obstacles such as trees and high rocks were present. 

 

Jisung shivered thinking about the possibility of falling in the more watery areas. Winter was no longer  in its peak, but the snow was still very much present, and it was very, very cold. It would also be really embarrassing in general, considering the school provided the spectators some kind of magic screen that is supposed to help them view the race as the competitors disappeared to the distance.

 

“Jisung, stop overthinking already! It’s showing on your face. This is why people think you are mousy!” Donghyuck elbowed him, and Jisung did the same thing back, wearing a pout on his face. It was his nature to overthink, and sometimes it wasn’t so good, but Jisung had to admit it was also one of his favorite pastimes. Donghyuck can tease him all he’d like, it wasn’t going anywhere.

 

“One day I’m going to find an animal that looks just like you, and use it against you every time you open your mouth to say anything about mice.” 

 

“Use it against me? Anything that looks like me has to be awesome. Give it up, Jerry, you only have flying going for you.” Donghyuck countered, and honestly, Jisung couldn’t even be upset, considering he had to hold his smile for appearing.

 

“Contestants, get ready on the platform! One minute until take off!” the announcer yelled, and both boys immediately ran towards the platform, trying to get the best spot they can get to start with. They managed to be in the front row, along with two girls, and three more guys, one of them being Mark.

 

The announcer coughed to make his voice clear, and then spoke again. “Once again, we are looking at Mahoutokoro’s future! The youngest group of racers that are here to prove they are more than just snowflakes, here are the second years that would shape the school’s reputation in a few years!” He yelled proudly, and cheers followed his words. Jisung felt like being ‘the future’ of the school sounds a bit burdensome, but he believes he’s pretty good at what he does, so he guessed he’d allow himself to think of himself as that.

 

“The preparations of the Snowflake race are done! Get on your marks, get set…” Jisung braced himself for take off, his breath icy as the cold air was exhaled. His hands held his broomstick so tightly he might just break it, but he didn’t care.

 

“Go!” A strong whistle was heard, and Jisung ran off the ledge of the platform, soaring into the air.    
  
Luckily for him, he was a bit on the tall side, and had longer legs that gave him the ability to go a bit farther in each step he took than other students. He had a pretty good head start, his ugly, strawy broom brush mocking the herd of kids behind it. Jisung wanted to look back and see if Donghyuck was behind him, but the wind was crashing against him as he sped through the race course, and he knew he had good momentum he should not waste. This was his moment to prove himself. 

 

The first part was flying down the Mountain, avoiding the rock pillars that had been carved and shaped by erupting lava hundreds of years before. They had to go a very specific route, going down right above the rocky surface. Jisung was pretty solid at avoiding obstacles, although he had to admit he inwardly cringed every time his feet dragged against the terrace by accident. 

 

He only realized he was distracted when he saw Mark right on his tail. Unnerved, he sped through the rocky course, racing to the forest section just as fast as his heart was beating. Mark remained calm behind him, and Jisung could not see him any longer as he entered the woods. Exhaling held in air, Jisung willed himself to not overthink any longer. Who knew Donghyuck would actually be right.

 

Well, he did. But he wouldn’t admit it.

 

Being inside the woods now, he really needed to notice his surroundings. All of the areas was filled with trees that seemed to grow branches overnight only out of spite, and every time held his broom a  little too freely, a part of it hit some part of a tree. He even managed to get snow covering him after he moved upwards a little too late, the snow simply falling on his from the branch as a mockery.

 

He did a mid air spin, a drill like maneuver to get it all off. He really hated flying in woods, but luckily for him he was literally in the forest at least three times a week. He didn’t only get used to it, but got a lot of examples from several animals of how to work his way through the obstacles in front of him.

 

It really proved the necessity of experience, considering Jisung could hear yelling students from behind him. He couldn’t blame them, knowing very well that being caught by a branch or crashing into a tree are both unlucky and very painful. The nurse wing will have a lot to deal with later on, but Jisung knew that there was no need to feel bad for the nurses. the school took that into consideration already, and older students who took healing elective are stationed there already.

 

At the very least, if Donghyuck falls off his broom, he will be able to have his favorite senior healing him. Taeil is the only person Donghyuck doesn’t sass, so it would be a great way to kill two birds in one stone. 

 

He wouldn’t mind being taken care of by Taeil and finally getting to know him either, but then again, he had no plans of getting into accidents in this race.  

 

Swerving and avoiding one last tree, Jisung jumped higher into the air with his broom, one of his legs pushing against a nearby tree trunk in order to get a headstart for the next section. He was lowering  himself slowly to sea level, the last part of the round was them being put through the rocky seas as they tried to make their way back to the mountain tops.

 

Jisung liked that part much better. The air was hitting him full force, and he felt as if he was one of the storm petrels that Professor Maki raised. He had less things to worry about. The beach wasn’t lynched by obstacles, at most containing skerries that made the watery surface look a bit more rocky and rough around the edges. There were some rock stacks but they were not particularly in the way.

 

This part was mainly about speed, and that made it all the better. He had heard some people behind him, one of them being Donghyuck. He said Mark’s name, so certainly the boy was still tailing him just like before. He could hear two people yelling at them, shouting some insults at them, but it was the all common ‘mudblood’ and ‘lowlife’ so it was nothing really new.

 

“Jisung! don’t let him pass you!” Donghyuck yelled at the top of his lungs, as Mark started to gain speed and managed to reach just beside Jisung. Anyone who ever knew Jisung would know from his expression that he wasn’t losing his spot without a fight.

 

-

 

The spectators bleachers were an absolute mess. If Jaemin had any idea that sitting in the first row was going to make him half deaf, he might have chose otherwise. Of course, he couldn’t really miss out on watching the race closely considering his best friend was literally the best flyer amongst the 2nd years and obviously was on his way to win, so he tried to make up for the experience by being just as loud as the teens beside him.  _ Well, When in Rome, do as romans do. _

 

He doesn’t know how it ended like that, but he was sitting at the very edge of a long bench, and on the bench next to it, which was separated by a wide staircase, sat Jeno, who wasn’t noisy in the least, but clapped excitedly every time Mark had the tiniest bit of a chance in stealing first place from Jisung.

 

That was certainly not appreciated, and Jaemin would have yelled that to the world any other time, because his best friend  _ will certainly  _ be the winner, but he still felt bad over what happened earlier this year. Also Jeno looked like he was about to fall off the bleachers platform any minute now with the way he was basically stuck to safety rail, and honestly, Jaemin didn’t want to surprise him and see him fall or something.

 

He kept his mouth shut for a few more minutes until Jeno seriously scared him when he literally almost slipped forward to his doom. The bleachers platform was on top of the mountain. a volcanic, rocky,  _ painful  _ mountain. He rushed forward and grabbed him by his magenta colored robes, pulling him back onto the platform and on his feet.

 

“You will literally fall down before you see Mark win.” He told him, with the slightest hint of pride in his voice. He admittedly said that so Jeno will get off the edge of the platform, but it was also factually correct. Jeno is literally like a cat with his instincts, he could almost fall on his face and still manage to windmill his way out of it and find himself standing in seconds. Falling down didn’t seem possible in Jeno’s world, and if that’s what conditioned Mark winning, Jisung had nothing to worry about.

 

Jeno was a bit taken aback by Jaemin grabbing him, but more in a surprised way rather than scared or anything. Jaemin would assume half-vampires wouldn’t be easily scared, though, so it wasn’t as surprising to him as it should be. But to be fair, maybe he should be questioning it a bit. Jeno was a tad bit more timid than most vampires.

 

“...I got too focused on the screen, I guess. It looks fun.” Jeno said, his eyes sparkling a little bit. He was just as quiet as always, barely looking at Jaemin, his mouth barely moving as he spoke. Jaemin didn’t want to insult the boy again. After some chats with Yoona, they came to the conclusion Jeno was probably teething and was embarrassed of his situation. Well, he didn’t really know that, but it’s the only conclusion he could make. So for now he’s going to avoid looking at Jeno teeth. Shouldn’t be too hard.

 

“Oh. Why didn’t you participate? It could have been lots of fun.” Jaemin asked, trying to keep a conversation. Jeno has been running from him for a while now, and he really wanted to rectify the uneasiness Jeno felt when he was beside him. 

 

“I’m not a natural at flying like Mark. My broom doesn’t listen usually, so I can’t even practice normally… I always end up in the nurse’s wing… and the smell there doesn’t do me good, over there.” He said shamefully, looking at his feet. Jaemin understood the underlying message - the blood scent made him crave, and he felt like he couldn’t let himself get in that situation. He really had it hard. He only joined this year, too - he barely had time to practice at all, even without his situation.

 

“You can get suppressants, though, right? I mean, it’s not a solution, but it will help… I can’t really do all that much now, but I really want to get into the healing elective later on, so when I do, you could come to me when your broom does you bad. You should definitely check why it doesn’t listen to you though, since it’ll take a while before we’ll get electives…” 

 

Jeno stared at him for a long while before answering. His hands were now tightening on the safety rails, a bit more nervous than before. “Please don’t talk about it. Nobody knows.” his voice was barely above a whisper, and he avoided eye contact with Jaemin, refusing to look at him even when Jaemin got closer, trying to catch his gaze.

 

“What do you mean?” Jaemin questioned, stress slowly building up within him. He really didn’t want a replay of what happened.

 

Jeno licked his dry lips, looking more worried than Jaemin for reasons unknown. 

 

“Nobody knows about my.. heritage. Please don’t speak about it. Mark doesn’t know about it… half of the teachers don’t know. I really don’t want people to misunderstand... I barely have friends here as it is.” He confessed unwillingly, swallowing his nervousness as he let out the truth only for Jaemin to hear.

 

“Jeno… you shouldn’t think like tha-” Jaemin started, but the loud cheers of the other students blocked him as the Snowflake race came to an end. Jeno sighed. 

 

“I should go see Mark. Congrats, your friend won.” He said before leaving Jaemin in a sea of screaming children. Jaemin looked at the big screen to see Jisung smiling as confetti flew around him and the announcer yelled his name, signifying his victory.

 

But Jaemin couldn’t feel completely happy.

 

_ I’m sorry, Jeno. I already failed in your request. _

 

-

 

Jisung was on the top of the world. 

 

Getting the first place in the race is something he’s been praying for, and his hard work paid off and he managed to reach first with a few seconds to spare. It was such a great feeling, especially with all the school students and staff finally recognizing him for what he was good at. The results showed on board the school specifically prepared for these events, and even though he already knew he won first place, he couldn’t help but marvel at his name written there. 

 

Seeing his name at the very top of the winners board made him feel accomplished. Mark was second, but he gave such Jisung such a fight he almost couldn’t believe the other boy only got his broom this year. Donghyuck placed fifth, but not by a large difference than those before him. Places third to seventh all arrived around the same time, and the teachers had to be very nitpicky to discern who arrived before who.    

 

Jisung was completely surrounded by excited students for half an hour, the happy and proud crowd only dispelling after the school staff announced that the 3rd years were going to start their race soon. As it finally quieted around him, Jisung finally managed to find Donghyuck again. He was about to say something himself, but Donghyuck caught him in a headlock first.

 

Aggressively petting Jisung’s hair with his hand, Donghyuck flashed a big smile. “I told you that you were going to do it! Good job!” He praised, and Jisung laughed as he wormed himself out of the other’s grip. “Are you ready to get scouted, Sungie?”

 

“Of course I am! Are you ready? Fifth isn’t all that shabby too, you know.” 

 

“Meh, I could’ve done better. I got thrown off by some screaming girl beside me in the woods section. Next year you better come prepared, Sungie, I won’t be settling for second.” He grinned. Jisung knew Donghyuck wasn’t saying that half-heartedly, and he relished in that. It was a fun competition, and Jisung only got more motivated at the thought of a rival.

 

“We will see about that next year.” He replied, smirking at his friend for a bit before changing he subject. “I really want to find Yuta and Taeyong. They said they’d be watching our race!” He beamed, his bubbly excitement making him skip around.

Usually Donghyuck would tease him, but this time he just laughed and nodded. “Let’s go, I can’t keep you from being scouted for too long, I guess.” 

 

They left the high platforms, and it took a considerable time to squeeze themselves through the bustling crowd that was currently enjoying the Hoarfrost race, but they somehow managed to reach beyond the screaming children to the racers pavilion.

 

Finally they found Yuta and Taeyong, and Jisung was ready to jump on the two older students the minute he saw them, but he noticed they were already speaking with somebody else and halted his steps. Stopping Donghyuck as well, they watched silently as the two held a conversation with Mark and his friend Jeno. 

 

“So we would like you to be a part of our team. You did really well on the race, I think you’ll be a great addition, if you are willing to be.” Taeyong told him, patting Mark on the shoulder as Yuta nodded beside him. Mark looked bewildered, but Jeno beside him ushered him to respond quickly, and he almost immediately snapped out of his shock.

 

“Yes! of course! I would love to!” He answered excitedly, smiling from ear to ear. 

 

“Glad to hear that! We have practice from four to six every Wednesday at the school’s Quidditch field. You will need to talk to the principal so you could go home later than most of the younger students, so either me or Jaehyun from our team will probably accompany you for that at some point this week. I hope we have a great time together as a team.” He said, ruffling Mark’s hair. 

 

“Thank you so much. I’ll do my best!” He said, even bowing a little, Yuta and Taeyong chuckling at his antics. 

 

“I’m sure you will. See you later, kid.” Yuta ended the conversation, and both Mark and Jeno waved goodbye as they turned to leave, the happiness they were exuding obvious to the entire pavilion. 

 

Jisung figured that Mark would get scouted. He was seriously good at flying, and made the race a lot more fun for him. It would actually be nice, to be in the same team as Mark. He was pretty nice, and Donghyuck might have proclaimed him as his rival, but he had a feeling that if they were friends lunch time would be hilarious rather than awkward. 

 

“I’m surprised you don’t have anything to say.” Jisung stated, just noting a random thought.

 

“Listen, he sucks at other things, but he is good at flying and was good at the race.” Donghyuck reasoned, and Jisung could definitely agree with that. “Still, no sense of humor whatsoever and taking charms with him is an absolute hazard.” Donghyuck added playfully, exaggerating a huff as he did. Now that was definitely the Donghyuck he knew.

 

Rolling his eyes, Jisung just grabbed Donghyuck’s forearm and dragged the boy to Yuta and Taeyong, that seemed pretty proud of themselves now that they added a new member to their team. He grabbed Taeyong’s sleeve, his dark red robe stretching out to a comical length before the older boy even noticed. 

“Hyung!” Jisung called as Taeyong turned around. Taeyong gave him an awkward chuckle and ruffled his hair, which was kind of embarrassing, but that was Taeyong’s habit and Jisung looked up to him so there was really no avoiding it. Yuta stood there looking stern, but he wasn’t able to keep that straight face for too long before letting it go and greet the two in front of him.

 

“Hey kiddos! Been a while since I spoke to you Jisungie. Good job on the race, you two, you did a great job.” Yuta said, give congratulatory pats on both of their shoulders. It was a bit awkward because admittedly Jisung didn’t come to Yuta a lot anymore. He still came around every now and then to see their team practicing and stuff, but it wasn’t really a mentor thing anymore. Jaemin kinda stole that task unfortunately. Still, they were on good terms and he did ask Yuta whenever something about Japanese culture came up.

 

Both he and Donghyuck shared a goofy smile, the honest praise going anything but unappreciated. They murmured a thank you, but aside from that, they mostly waited for Yuta or Taeyong to say what they expected to hear. Donghyuck particularly was impatient as he looked at them with his puppy eyes. He wasn’t even here to be recruited himself, he just wanted to hear it when Jisung gets the offer.

 

Taeyong seemed a bit uncomfortable, but kept his kind and calm demeanor anyway. “You really did well! Jisungie, I always knew you’d be a flyer. Congrats for winning, you worked hard.” He said. His voice was happy, but his eyes were lightless, almost apologetic. Jisung didn’t like that. Jisung didn’t like that at all. “We are going to go watch the 3rd years’ race, I heard they have some very good people this year. You should go see it too, your friends must be waiting for you.” 

 

Donghyuck eyed Jisung, and it was crystal clear to both of them that Taeyong was attempting to brush them off. Jisung heart sank, and anxiety crept down his spine, settling in his stomach knowing that there was some sort of problem. He tried to look back on the entire race, if he did anything wrong, if there was a reason for them to not want him in their team.

 

Something dawned on him. 

 

None of the teams that had participated in this year’s Blizzard race even tried to approach him, while he could see Mark from the side of his eye getting his second offer as well as other captains eyeing him. He already seen eight captains aside from Taeyong on his way to the pavilion.

 

Did he miss anything? Did he do anything wrong? Why was he ignored when he was the winner? His eyes started to glisten as he chewed on his lips. Jumping to his own conclusions had always been his own special skill, but he knew this time this conclusions were certainly not unwarranted. 

 

“Jisungie, are you okay?” Yuta asked as he watched the boy revert physically and mentally. His posture did everything to ensure he looked like a scared mouse, afraid of any backlash that might occur if it chose the wrong move. “You look unwell.. maybe you should go to the nurse wing..”

 

Jisung hand clutched his robe defensively. He was anxious and disappointed before, but now he was mad. He felt like he had the right to be upset. He always expected to be recruited by them, and not without any reasons. They both always hyped his skill, always invited him to their matches, talked to him about teams and Quidditch and how he would be a great player. They attached him to their team with an almost unspoken promise and now they were trying to avoid him. After recruiting  _ second place  _ from the competition  _ he won. _

 

“Don’t say I did a good job when you aren’t even looking at me.” Jisung nearly hissed, venom laced into the words in a way he never had to use before. 

 

“What?” Taeyong hesitated, his question already answered in his head.

 

“Stop being hypocrites!” he yelled, but quieted down when he saw the people around them looking. “You used to tell me I would be such a good asset to any team, that you are so proud of me, and I wanted so badly to win first place to not let you down… and I did… but somehow I’m still not good enough.” He faltered, and Donghyuck held his wrist worriedly as he spoke, but he kept on going.

 

“I don’t know what I did wrong. I won the race, I did what I could… but you recruited second place. I don’t know what more I should do. People had been telling me since last year that someone is going to scout me, but it’s my second year and no one is offering anything. Please, if I’m not good enough, stop lying to me.” His voice was strained, but he didn’t cry. Not in front of all these people.

 

“Either way, I’m not going to stay and watch you recruiting some third year now. I’m clearly not going to be a part of the team, so it doesn’t matter to me.” He finished and turned away from them, just eager to leave the pavilion as soon as possible. He didn’t run, as eager as he was, but he didn’t give them any chance to talk. He doesn’t want to hear them.

 

He could hear Donghyuck saying something before his friend latched onto him again, but he didn’t care. Donghyuck seemed to be in the same mind as him anyway, seeing he was already ready to take off on his broom with him.

 

-

 

Jaemin was really lost. 

 

He’s been trying to find Jisung and Donghyuck for almost an hour, but to no avail. He really wanted to tell them about what happened with Jeno, sulk a little, get over it and having a little party over Jisung’s win. Clearly the two boys were in their own little world considering they pretty much forgot him.

 

He already left the race platforms, and he’s been going through corridors in the school for a bit, trying to see if he’s able to find them there. Looking around as he walked, he was admittedly not very concentrated for someone on a search mission. I mean, you could only be so unaware of your surroundings when you are on one, and Jaemin managed to walk into a student.

 

Well, he walked into Johnny, which is fortunate, but considering Johnny is nearly 180 cm tall, maybe he’s really ought to check his eyesight too. After all, he really should have been able to notice before he found himself on the floor. 

 

“Still a klutz, Jaeminnie?” Johnny laughed, but far from maliciously. Johnny had always been like a the brother he never had, and Jaemin always knew to take his words in a friendly, teasing matter, so he didn’t really need to be embarrassed. Johnny gave him a hand and lifted him up as if he was as light as a piece of paper and Jaemin practically flew back to his feet.  _ Just Johnny things,  _ he thought.

 

“Sorry hyung.” He laughed playfully. He knows Johnny didn’t really care about the mishap anyway, no point in making a real big deal out of it.

 

“It’s all good. What were you looking for anyway? If you weren’t sporting a a dark pink robe by now, I would’ve thought you were a first year.” Johnny questioned him. Jaemin scratched the back of his head sheepishly, a bit embarrassed that he’s going to have to say he can’t find either of his best friends anywhere.

 

“Jisung and Donghyuck participated in the Snowflake race and disappeared right afterwards. I’ve been looking for them for already an hour. Jisungie probably got scouted or something considering he won but they should let me know when they are celebrating, you know?” Jaemin pouted, a bit annoyed with the thought the two are celebrating without him. He was the leader of their cheering squad back in the bleachers!

 

Johnny expression hardened in less than a second.

 

“Oh. Well, I’ve seen them, but… Jaemin, I’m honestly am not supposed to talk about it, but… you should probably know, because he’s your close friend. Jisung isn’t going to get scouted. At least not any time soon.” Johnny whispered, his head bent down toward Jaemin so he would hear him.

 

Jaemin looked at him, frowning. “That’s really not something to joke about, hyung. He’s been waiting for that since last year.” He replied, squinting his eyes at Johnny. Jaemin knew how much the subject mattered to Jisung, who spent every minute of his spare time babbling about team 127, which Johnny was in fact, a part of.

 

“No, Jaemin. I’m serious. He’s not going to get scouted or recruited. I wish I was joking, really. Some of our teammates had been talking about getting him in for months before we realized we can’t.” Johnny clarified, and now Jaemin was stressed. Poor Jisung has been talking about it for the entire semester.

 

“But why? He’s the best flyer among the second year! He’s better than most fourth years, you have to be kidding! What do you mean by realized you can’t? This will make him so sad…” He trailed off, mind already running over the potential consequences. None of them was good.

 

“Be quiet about it, but… apparently the school staff don’t want him in the league. They said he has… circumstances that unfortunately make him unable to join teams. They also told us to keep quiet about it. Literally said they will expel anyone that gossips about it too. It was scary as hell. We’re not supposed to tell him either, apparently.”

 

Jaemin stood there appalled. So not only Jisung is not allowed to get scouted for teams, he is also forbidden to know about it? This was way too much. He didn’t deserve this, he could easily help the school get so many wins and they’re just stomping on his potential. Swallowing nervously, Jaemin looked up at Johnny again.

 

“You said you know where he and Donghyuck are?..” Jaemin asked, if only to confirm.

 

“Yeah. I went to the nurse wing to get some pretty bad scratch I got bandaged up, they waited  ten minutes behind me waiting to talk with the healing elective student that treated me. Moon Taeil, you probably know him. They are probably still there talking. Honestly, Jisung looked a bit shaken up, but If it makes you feel better, at least they’re in good hands there. Taeil’s a good listener and stuff.” Johnny said, trying to comfort the younger.

 

“Yeah. Thanks, hyung. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” He said, not letting Johnny do anything except nod before dashing off towards the nurse wing. He’ll make it up for the older boy later.

 

-

“You are really lucky you managed to come here when all the patients were cleared. It was a mess here half an hour ago.” Taeil told them frankly, sanitizing some of the tools he used on a patient before. Jisung eyed the stainless steel needle, wondering who managed to hurt himself so bad that Taeil had to use that. He cringed at the thought of the needle digging under someone’s skin. 

 

Taeil looked at him, amused. “It really doesn’t hurt that much, or at all, really. We got anti-pain spells we use, so it’s really only mildly uncomfortable. But I guess you are feeling pretty uncomfortable anyways right now?” Taeil asked, not shying away from going straight to the point. 

 

“Hyung, they really thought we were dumb or something! They both tried to tell us to go, to see the other races or go to the nurse wing. It was so frustrating, they’ve been egging Jisung to join them for ages!” Donghyuck said, sitting on a free patient bed next to Jisung. He was just as upset if not more about the entire thing, which was typical Donghyuck behaviour. Jisung was just really glad he was there to explain everything that happened.

 

“I see… I have to admit, this really doesn’t sound like either Yuta or Taeyong, but I never got close to them anyway. They should really hold off on the affection, they will really end up misleading people like this..” Taeil answered, disappointment showing on his face. “Either way, you said what you thought, you won first place, you did everything in your ability, Jisung. Don’t feel bad for spilt milk. Sometimes things are bound to go rotten anyway.” Taeil said, giving him a sympathetic smile. He rummaged through some drawers that stood next to him, tossing them two packets of chocolate frogs.

 

“We usually keep those for rehabilitating athletes, but you can have those. Will make you feel better. Chasing the frogs is also pretty fun if you are quick on your feet.” Taeil chuckles, swiftly returning to his tools before the head nurse peeked a glance at them again.

 

“Thanks, hyung.” Jisung said quietly, fingers feeling the packet, examining it with touch as he tried to decide if he’s even in the mood for chocolate. Donghyuck patted his back. Jisung felt vulnerable as he felt the hand, like it was urging him to spill out everything he felt. He didn’t know if he should, but if he didn’t would the sadness stay inside? All he wanted was to feel okay with himself.

The silence around him annoyed him, closed in on him and choked him as if it was a pair of hands rooting for his end. This entire calm facade felt like hell when a storm was brewing from within him. Why did everything feel so fake when his reality refused to change? If it would keep being like this, he wouldn’t be able to sleep today, nor tomorrow. He needed that rest.

 

He’d rather get it out, he decided.

 

“I just don’t understand. Why does nobody acknowledges me? I tried so hard. I really did. Every time I try to do something people turn me away. Why does nobody wants me? None of the Quidditch teams want me, more than half of my classmates look down on me, even my own mother gave me away. Why am I not good enough for anyone?” He finally broke down, finally the tears streaming down his cheeks. He tried to be as quiet as he could with his sobs, but holding back only made his sniffling worse.

 

He tried to think of everything with his usual apathy - never before did he take being an orphan as a tragedy. In fact, he used to even understand a little, that somewhere back when he was born, his mother decided that it would be better for him, but every passing day when his friends progressed and he found himself stagnant he kept wondering his mother’s choice was because of how it benefited her. If students chose to leave him be because it was better for them, if teams didn’t want him because he would be detrimental. 

 

People always pitied him without him knowing what for, but now he wondered if he was blind for not pitying himself.

 

Donghyuck came closer and hugged him, his chin resting on his shoulder without saying a word. He could see the nervousness in Donghyuck’s mannerisms, whether it was the gulping sound he made, the choice to remain silent when his default was speaking, and the hesitant way his hands settled on him as he cried. Jisung couldn’t stop, but he felt so bad. One of the two only friends he had and he was making his day bitter.

 

He only felt worse when he realized he also accidentally ditched Jaemin, god knows where he is right now. They should’ve met after the race, but he got so upset he just ran off and took Donghyuck with him. He cried harder, and now the nurse was watching them, and she would’ve come closer had Taeil not shook his head and hinted her to ignore it.

 

“Jisung.” Taeil said calmly, even if he seemed pretty unnerved. It took all of Jisung power to try to listen and ignore his tears and snot. 

 

“W-what?” he stuttered, lifting his hand so he could wipe his face with his sleeve.

 

“I know it’s hard, not being able to get validation from others. It’s hard to feel unwanted and unloved… but before others could accept you, and see you for you, you need to accept yourself. You are in no rush to get anywhere, and the people around you will come and go. Stick to the people who make you feel good, and let those who disappoint you filter themselves out. You are doing your best. we as people are doing our best. If people don’t accept us, they can shove it.” Taeil carefully treaded through the words, a glimmer of sadness reflecting in his own eyes.

Reflecting on the words, Jisung remembered all the chats Donghyuck mentioned Taeil being commonly bullied by both humans and merpeople for being a half-siren, unaccepted in both communities that spoke the same insults despite being so different. Taeil wasn’t only talking about Jisung, he was talking about himself as well.

 

Jisung cried harder.

 

“I’m sorry, hyung, I’ll w-work on it. I didn’t want to bring up…” He croaked, his vocal cords already aching. Taeil put a finger on his own lips, already knowing what he wanted to say. He went and brought Jisung a cup of water, encouraging him to drink instead.

 

“You did nothing wrong, and you are fine the way you are. Just don’t get dehydrated, you probably have enough of a headache anyway.” Taeil said softly. Jisung nodded, his lips finding the edge of the plastic cup. He tried not to let the sobs overtake him again and relax as the water touched his lips. He visibly relaxed for a few seconds, willing himself to remain calm, but really, nothing really worked that day.

 

Jisung hiccuped. Not out of crying or anything, simply because he drank the water too fast. He wanted to face palm, but his situation was so stupidly pitiful he just laughed.

 

At the same time, the doors to the infirmary bursted open, and Jisung looked back to see a very worried Jaemin looking at him like the world has ended. Running towards Jisung, he finally came face to face with they red-eyed kid and was examining the situation in front of him, but Jisung just hiccuped at his face. 

 

Donghyuck’s couldn’t hold back his laughter this time, so instead he just grabbed the surprised Jaemin into a group hug on top of the infirmary as Jisung protested. Jaemin just went along with it, seeing he practically had no other choice. He and Donghyuck practically squashed Jisung underneath them, the boy gasping for air as he tried to sort out his laughter and hiccups. 

 

“Taeil hyung, save me, please!” he said as the two other boys closed in on him, and Taeil snorted.

 

“I think you’ll be just fine.”

 

-

 

“I feel like a monster.”

 

Yuta looked at Taeyong. The day was over, they were in their dorms. Their other roommates weren’t there yet. Sliding off his bunk bed, coming closer to the window sill Taeyong sat on, he sighed as he knew he was going to enter the conversation he feared of the entire day.

 

“You are not a monster. It’s not our fault we’re not allowed to recruit him.” Yuta reminded him, but both of them knew that sentence won’t ease any of Taeyong’s worries. “I know you feel bad, but there was really nothing you could do.” 

 

“I know, but…” Taeyong started, but he couldn’t find the words. Not that he really needed any. Yuta was already well aware of the guilt the other felt. He also knew why he felt that way, unlike many of their team members that are not really well aware of Taeyong’s background. “He was so hurt, and he looked just like me when my parents-”

 

“Shut up, you are not like your parents.” Yuta stopped him before he could say word. He didn’t want to hear a word of that. Taeyong’s parents were absolute scum, and Yuta will no longer let Taeyong connect himself to them. He remembered when Taeyong told him his story, the way he wanted to steal a storm petrel from the school just to go to South Korea and fight them himself.

 

Taeyong was born to a muggleborn family that wanted nothing but perfection within their family. Taeyong was gorgeous, but his parents still nitpicked at his looks, Taeyong was mannerly and hardworking, but they still decided he was lazy and disrespectful, and finally, Taeyong was a freak wizard and both of his parents hated that thought so much they refused to accept him as their son. 

 

His father held so much hate for the fact his son was a wizard, he refused to believe they were of the same blood, accused his mother of cheating and divorced her no longer than three months after Taeyong discovered his powers. His mother, just as bitter and disgusting as her ex-husband, kicked Taeyong out to the streets, saying he was a curse despite the fact Taeyong did anything in his power to make her happy. He was only seven.

 

Taeyong was lucky that he managed to find a Knight Bus, that took he straight from the ditch to the Korean Ministry of Magical Matters, or the KMMM. He was put into rehabilitation after so much abuse, only accepting his ability with magic after working for a year with a duo he considers to actually be his parents, therapists Kim Jongdae and Son Seungwan. They worked with him as if they were his father and mother for an entire year, introduced him to some foster families he could live with until he was old enough, and teached him what they could about magic until he finally received his Mahoutokoro acceptance letter at age nine.

 

Taeyong was a success story, and the only thing that has ever brought him down was his parents. And he shouldn’t be feeling down because of them either. 

 

“Some circumstances can’t be helped. But you are far from your parents, Taeyong. Jisung will have his time to shine, he can definitely make it by himself with his skills. The type of shit you went through isn’t normal, and I know for a fact you will never hurt someone the way you were hurt by your parents. You past and blood doesn’t define you. So stop sulking, go to sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, for all of us.” He took Taeyong’s wrist and pulled him away from the window sill, making him stand up and finally dragging him towards his bed.

 

“Fine, fine, I’ll go myself!” Taeyong wriggled out of his hold and sighed, still feeling uncomfortable about the ordeal, but Yuta knew that at least he managed to raise the tips of his mouth up, seeing a hidden surpassed smile hidden by gloomy eyes.

 

“Then come on already. I’ll even cuddle you if you stop giving me those sad puppy eyes.” He said, pulling him into one of the bottom bunk beds. Taeyong rolled his eyes, but his teeth were now showing with his smile, his expression no longer making him look like a tormented soul. 

“Maybe I should give you more sad puppy eyes then?” Taeyong chuckled, his eyelashes fluttering prettily as he looked up to Yuta.

 

“Don’t you bite off more than you can chew, Yongie.” He answered as he shifted on the bed until he finally was spooning Taeyong. Taeyong didn’t answer but he snorted, so Yuta guessed it was okay. If he were to be honest, he wondered if he took upon himself way too much. 

 

Because feeling Taeyong’s nuzzling against his arm and his willingness to have him within his space was sort of maddening, but when it comes to the boy he held he really can’t help but to be there. All he could do was hug him back, until the day the other will finally realize his worth and will realize he doesn’t have to settle on less. The heartbreak that will come will definitely be more than he can chew, for sure.

 

-

 

A few months later into the year, it was announced Mahoutokoro will officially host a few students from the new, mysterious Chinese school that was just revealed. Apparently, the teachers in Mahoutokoro will check if their studies were sufficient, and they will introduce the school to the world in a bold step.  

 

Jisung wasn’t very interested in the whole thing, but Donghyuck and Jaemin officially lost their shit when they heard that. They insisted it was the most bold political move ever and were so excited about this entire thing. Donghyuck said Mahoutokoro will probably start motivating people to do better in all subjects knowing how competitive schools can get.

 

the Chinese school name was Lóng Fèng, meaning dragon and phoenix. Which was a pretty cool name. They had Quidditch players (a topic Jisung was still a bit sensitive about, but still), and they are coming with a ton of Chinese magical knowledge that maybe they’ll show the school. It was a pretty awesome thing, all in all, but Jisung just didn’t particularly care, not more than usual.

 

Nonetheless, Mahoutokoro staff certainly cared. On the start of the third semester, the day they were supposed arrive, the school was decorated to an extent you’d think royalty are going to grace the palace with a visit. All the walls were decorated with ribbons and and colors, the artificial cherry forest in the grand hall grew back to absolute full bloom, and there was so festive items lingering around you could truly think the school was some kind of palace shrine and they we’re celebrating a Japanese Matsuri. 

 

Traditional drums and string instruments were used for music, and there was a lively atmosphere from the people to the plants to the magical beings that lingered on the island. All of this was shocking in how over the top it was, but for Jisung, the most appalling part was the fact they had to wait outside, on a grassy, tall hill somewhere in the very other side of island for them to come. Literally what the hell, they’ve been here two hours.

 

“Can’t we ditch this?... Nobody will notice anyway, considering the entire school is here.” He whispered to Jaemin, bored out of his wits. He was sweating all over, and all he could do was lean on Jaemin’s shoulder when he didn’t have the power to sit up straight anymore. 

“No, Sungie.” Jaemin said decisively, not even thinking about it. But it was a losing game to try and make Jaemin change his mind. He’s still pretty sure his mother was a part of this whole shenanigan somehow, because she was some kind of an international magic meditator or something. He really didn’t understand her job, but it didn’t really matter.

 

He sunk back onto Jaemin, his head resting on Jaemin’s back. “I’m gonna fall asleep on you, then.” Jisung warned, and Jaemin simply moved forward, making Jisung’s head to fall as response. If Jaemin didn’t have his back to him, he would have stuck out his tongue. He settled on an annoyed huff.

 

“I think I see something!” Some girl from 9th year pointed out. Everyone immediately looked up. From afar, Jisung could only see something birdlike coming forward - well, actually three of them. He assumed the Chinese school had their own storm petrels or some kind of an equivalent. All of the students stood, trying to catch a better look.

 

And a better look they’ve got.

 

Upon closer look, those were no birds. Birds certainly do not breathe fire.

 

Those were three Chinese Fireball dragons. They were riding them, and the dragons were shooting blasts to the air as if they were fireworks. The instruments the school provided for music means finally had a use, and as the dragons inched closer, the drums were beating faster and faster. One of the dragons, the leader, suddenly beat his wings faster, flying right to the hill.

 

Jisung was ready to bolt as the shadow of the giant dragon darkened their surface. Donghyuck, who was barely breathing at the moment literally had to hold him from going somewhere else. The dragon dove towards the students and roared before turning backwards in a circle, landing on a free space on top of the hill, looking just as feral on ground as he was on the air. The sound of the drums vanished as the dragon let his wings fall to his sides.

 

The two other dragons settled behind him, looking the exact same, but carrying different people. 

 

“Holy…” Donghyuck murmured, not even managing to finish his sentence when people started to get off the dragons. Two people off of the leading dragon, nine boys out of the right dragon, and nine girls off of the left dragon. Twenty people in total.

 

The two that rode the leading dragon inched closer, and exchanged some words with the headmaster, the two of them bowing and he returning the gesture. The entire hill was dead silent until the headmaster turned around to them.

 

“Everyone, let’s welcome Lóng Fèng Academy to our school!” He yelled enthusiastically.

 

Jisung could barely hear anybody over the screams and claps, but he did notice the new students. His eyes fell on the boys.  They were in a row formation, all standing as if they are ready to fight, aside from one, that looked moderately nervous. He was the smallest of the bunch, but Jisung truly wondered, what could he be scared of when he had the courage to ride a dragon?

He did not understand, but there were many things in the wizarding world that were unclear, and he will not let them remain mysteries for him forever. Now, It was only a matter of digging for the answers.    

 

_ Maybe it would be pretty interesting to have them around, in the end. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for the end notes! I'm really sorry for all the angst in this chapter, it was unfortunately all necessary haha. YuTae is a new pairing tag, we got a little bit of Doyoung, Taeil and Johnny, and the Chinese school is finally here! I hope you are all excited. If you have any questions or anything, you can catch me here or on Twitter @yanvels. This chapter had my brain fried, but that's because I wrote like 5k of it in six hours.... not the best idea but I had fun. Hope you did too : )


	5. Unanswered, Unveiled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the fifth chapter! My computer broke halfway through this chapter, which is why it took so long to complete it ;-; There are so many cast members now that I have so many scenes I'd like to put it that I just can't yet... it's frustrating but fun. I hope you will all enjoy it~

It seemed like the coldness of the past season had dissipated away. Jisung couldn't be sure if it was because of how all of the students were all huddled up as they waited for the Chinese students to arrive, or the fact they now had fire breathing dragons resting on top of the inactive volcano the island possessed. Jisung didn't mind either way. It was a welcome change, and in his opinion, good riddance. Winter this year gave him nothing but trouble. Finally growing past that was something he was immensely grateful for. 

 

After their new guests arrived, they were quickly rushed away from the mountains as some of Mahoutokoro’s hesitant staff tried to lead the three gigantic dragons to a safe place both for them and from them. It was almost comical, seeing professor Terada busying himself in pushing the students away as professor Maki scowled at him for leaving her alone with the three beasts, but Jisung was certain that if he had to handle three fire breathing lizards by himself he would be pretty unhappy too. 

 

Half an hour passed and they were all in the Great Hall, the tunnel of cherry trees stunning their transfer students as well. The Chinese girls seemed excited about the view, but the boys seemed to be more interested in chatting among themselves, hovering around one guy in particular. It looked like they were teasing him about something. He was handsome, having phoenix sharp eyes, and a unique feature of an almost elvish-like ear. He was certainly no beast himself, though. He looked graceful, for the lack of better words. Jisung only managed to understand what they were talking about when he pulled his wand out. His wand was clearly made of cherry wood, having the same color and texture as the trees surrounding them. Jisung thought him lucky, knowing that those holding cherry wood wands are more respected in Mahoutokoro. He was even good-looking to boot.  _ Some people are just so lucky… _

 

"If you are going to stare like that, you will start burning holes in their robes, Sungie." Jaemin warned, his eyes gleaming as Jisung got the tiniest bit red. If they weren't going to have an official feast at the moment, Jisung would have been sure that he and Donghyuck would have joined forces by now to tease him, but luckily for him, Headmaster Miyamoto was already coughing to sign his impending speech was starting, trying to gain the attention of his noisy students.

 

"Now, now, students! You will all have time to gossip and chat afterwards, but we have a big announcement for you to hear!" He chided, his husky voice nearly straining as he spoke volumes louder than usual. Most students listened and turned their heads to him. As for those who didn't listen right away, Headmaster Miyamoto swished and flicked his wand until they were all doused in a shower of cherry blossoms that fell on them like an avalanche, covering them from head to toe.

 

Smiling to himself, proud of his work, he returned to his speech as a few bowtruckles from the trees came down to pick up the petals, tossing and blowing them around like confetti. 

 

"As I was about to say… From today on, Lòng Fèng Academy will be staying with us for an undetermined amount of time. We as a school received the permission to host them, teach them in arts they themselves do not have, and we got the rare opportunity to also be taught in their own exclusive courses they have not shared for almost a century. The academy is relatively new, especially compared to our establishment, but during their stay we shall see if we may need to update ourselves, and if there is any need to correct and optimize their system." Headmaster Miyamoto said calmly, unbothered with his announcement, but the amount of Mahoutokoro's smirking teachers hinted that criticism will be the only thing the rival academy would get.

 

The sharp glances from the Chinese teachers were telling, but the open, sour squints from their students were all the proof anyone needed to know that both of the parties at hand were certainly not on friendly terms.

 

“Well, it’s time for our guests to introduce themselves.” The headmaster said, looking at one of the two teachers that stood nearby him, both standing like tall towers in front of their students. “If you will.” 

 

“Of course.” The teacher answered, coming forward. He had black, slightly curly hair and a blank gaze. Jisung could hear some squeals from some of his female classmates, and maybe even some of the male ones. The teacher was pretty handsome, he guessed. He had broad shoulders and a sharp jawline. He was also oddly familiar, and Jisung couldn’t put his finger on why.

 

“My name is Zhang Yixing, and I will lead the male group of our students this year. For those who will be included in my lessons, you shall also learn Alchemy with me.” He announced, and immediately there were a couple of shouts of surprise and joy coming from nearly every area in the room. Jisung gaped, bewildered. 

 

“Wait, is he…?” Jisung whispered in question, and he didn’t even need to finish his sentence before Donghyuck was already nodding his head.

 

“Legendary Chinese auror Zhang Yixing? The one who saved Changsha from a Basilisk infestation? Yes. It’s him.” Donghyuck said excitedly, his entire face glowing like the sun as he clapped for a man he considered to be revolutionary. Donghyuck always loved hearing about the stories of aurors, and Zhang Yixing was by far one of the most prominent ones in Asia. As far as he is concerned, that man is a hero, and Jisung agrees.

 

“Woah.” Jisung muttered quietly, and Donghyuck nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with his admiring sigh.

 

The former auror now looked back at his female counterpart. The woman seemed to be around her late twenties, the oldest of the girls, but in Jisung opinion she was by far the prettiest among them. She had catty eyes and long dark hair. She wore a red lipstick that was almost too red - it looked like the shade of the dragons she rode on just one hour ago. Strangely, the color did not seem foreign on her. She had several red blotches on her skin, mostly on her hands. Others would be embarrassed of such imperfection, but she seemed to sport them proudly.

 

“My name is Song Qian. I’m in charge of the female group from our Academy. For those who will learn with me, you will be taught about breeding and taming magical creatures, mostly of the more dangerous sort. Of course, including dragons.” She said pointedly, her eyes twinkling as the students released audible gasps all across the room. 

 

Jisung could now understand where she got those red blotches from. He didn’t know if he wanted to find out for himself what it was like, but he doesn’t think they would let second years like him near dragons anyway, so he guessed he was safe. At the very least, he hoped so. The flames freaked him out when he was watching them from afar, he did not want to experience it firsthand.

 

Headmaster Miyamoto grinned at the introductions, but didn’t seem fully satisfied. “Well, their teachers are most certainly impressive. Maybe the students will also save time and introduce themselves as well?” He suggested, but his gaze was already expecting as he watched the students with his droopy eyes. 

 

Jisung wasn’t sure if he was seeing correctly, but he could swear Qian was glaring at the headmaster. Yixing was frowning as well, his lips in a thin line. He could feel the tension as the teachers exchanged glances between themselves, but both of them seemed to decide it was right to relent after a few seconds.

 

“Girls, go ahead first.” Qian ordered the girls who stood behind her, all of them gulping at the annoyed command their teacher just gave. They girls scattered around until they pushed the oldest girl to speak first, determining the order of introduction would be according to age. 

 

Jisung would be honest. He didn’t really care in the slightest about the girls. They were fine, but none of them stood out to him. If already, as they kept introducing themselves, each one seemed less remarkable than the other. He know it sounds unnecessarily mean, but after being introduced to a famous former auror, students really fall short.

 

When the male students started to introduce themselves, he at least found himself listening, because he kind of wanted to know the name of the lucky guy from before. Apparently it was Sicheng. When he introduced himself, aside from shocking Jisung with an incredibly deep voice, he also noticed Qian was smiling. Now that he thinks about it, they kind of look alike.

 

They finally reached the final, youngest student. It was that nervous boy he noticed from before, back on the Chinese party arrived. He had a wide jaw but a button nose, and his eyes crinkled as he smiled awkwardly under all the pressure. Everyone watched him, bored out of their minds at this point, just waiting for all the formalities to be over and finally start eating.

 

“My name is Zhong Chenle, I’m going to be a second year here. Nice to meet you.” He blurted out as fast as he could, surprising Jisung when he kept smiling to the crowd of people rather than shying away from it. He did a quick bow and it seemed that only then people actually realized what he said.

 

“Zhong?” an voice was heard through the crowd, and out of nowhere everyone decided the boy was twenty times more interesting than any other person in the room. People started whispering, and Chenle licked his lips, laughing forcefully as the students’ gossip started becoming a permanent background noise. 

 

Jisung had no idea what was going on. Donghyuck also seemed a bit puzzled, but judging the look on Jaemin’s face, at least he knew. Jisung crept onto the boy, putting his head on his shoulder. “What is everyone so surprised for?” He questioned in a whisper, feeling Donghyuck also leaning in to hear whatever Jaemin might have to answer.

 

“Sungie, the Zhongs are the purest magician bloodline in Asia. They have huge influence in China’s magic ministry. Probably the most powerful family in China, actually. That kid is practically royalty.” He explained, in possibly the most dramatic tone he could conjure, still wearing the same awestruck expression he had when the boy announced his name.

 

Squinting his eyes to get a good glimpse of the kid, Jisung looked from one side, and then the other, and just settled on staring. None of the angles made Chenle look more ‘princely’ than before, but he could say that there was no obvious flaw about him. He looked well-groomed, but Jisung didn’t know if it sounded more like a compliment or an insult. Chenle wasn’t what he was expecting from wizarding royalty to look like, and in fact, some other boys in the Chinese party seemed more fitting of that description, but hey, who was he to judge how a wizard prince should look like, anyway?

 

Still, Chenle did catch his attention first back at the hill. Maybe Jisung will see the ‘royalty’ in him soon enough. 

 

Students didn’t have enough time to keep examining Chenle before food appeared, the meal significantly more luxurious than ever before. There was even a few chinese dishes, like a huge roasted peking duck in each table, mutton stews with pork and beef and trays on trays of buttery egg tarts, along with so much more.

 

“I’d suggest you’d eat quickly, seeing there’s only a bit less than thirty minutes until the school day is over, dear students.” The headmaster advised, going back to his high seat. Kids jumped from their seat to collect their food, and the Chinese students dashed to their designated seats. 

 

Jisung hoped Hoki and the other house elves will forgive the absolute mess they made of the table.

 

-

 

Monday morning finally brought in some chance to get to know the new students. Jisung himself wasn’t really a part of that crowd that wanted to get too close with the transfer students, but others were pretty excited about it, even though he had to suspect that it was mostly because of their cool, formerly a legendary auror teacher rather than anything else. 

 

It didn’t really matter either way, considering that most of the time the Chinese group kept to themselves, staying in their own clique and from what he had heard, also avoiding questions and people outside of their own circle. Jisung already figured out they were a bunch of stuck ups, but others kept trying to become friends with them. Kind of seemed like a wasted effort in his opinion, but whatever.  _ That’s not his problem. _

 

Jisung had better things to worry about. The first class this morning was Transfiguration, and that means he’d have to deal with professor Takanashi while he’s sleep deprived. It doesn’t get much worse than that. Professor Takanashi had the history of being weird and mean to him, and it didn’t get much better this year. He rarely cuts slack when it comes to Jisung and consistently makes him look like an idiot. Jisung literally always gets picked to answer the hardest questions in class, when Transfiguration is by far his worst subject. 

 

He guessed that’s what he got for snitching to professor Terada about the man watching him at the clearing back then. Not that he regretted doing that, in all honesty, he felt much safer after he did. It did kind of suck most of the class just thought professor Takanashi was trying real hard to help his worst student, rather than seeing the actual truth behind it. Then again, he didn’t really want to become a source of drama. There had been enough rumors about him since the Snowflake race.

 

He tried not to think about it. He was still embarrassed and bitter, and it still kind of hurt seeing Yuta and Taeyong avoiding him in the halls. 

 

“Turn to page 119 of your textbooks.” Professor Takanashi instructed, his voice as grim as ever. Jisung lethargically opened his book and studied it. It was titled  _ The Switching Spell  _ and was filled with drawings explaining the procedure of it - basically, you choose two objects in your line of sight, use the spell, make them vanish and reconjure in the place of each other, essentially making them switch places. Jisung sighed. He could barely do a vanishment spell. Aiming to make two things disappear and reappear seemed like a nightmare. 

 

Looking for things that looked easy enough to use for it, he decided his quill and some ripped piece of paper should be okay. Both are light, easily replaceable and in general just not a high risk items to use. Well, that’s what he planned to use, but really, when does professor Takanashi ever go with something that is actually comfortable for Jisung?

 

Conjuring two baskets of apples, differently colored, professor Takanashi looked through the entire class, making sure they were all paying attention. “You will be working as partners in this exercise. You will have one person holding a green apple, and another will be holding a red apple. Your partner will move around as you try switch between them. Repeat after me, the correct spell is  _ immutatio.”  _ he said gravely, his voice very much hinting the  _ or else. _

 

**“Immutatio.”** The class responded, voices terrified in unison. Jisung really tried to keep a positive thinking, but he knew he was going to suck at this. He looked at Jaemin and Donghyuck almost desperately, and they both seemed to feel sorry for him. The two were far better at Transfiguration than he was, and he could tell that even they were a bit taken aback. But if he’ll pair up with one of them, it should be fine…

 

“I’m assigning the pairs. To be able to judge your performance better, of course.” He said, and Jisung gritted his teeth. When he starts learning about legilimency and anything about mind reading, he would be sure to read professor Takanashi’s mind to get on every nerve the man has. He will make than man lose hair by driving him nuts, Jisung swears.  _ Say goodbye to your ugly ponytail, you old fart. _

 

“First off… how about our new transfers show us what they know?” the professor suggested, targeting the two Chinese students. Jisung remembers them from the feast. Those were the two that spoke before the Zhong kid.  _ Liu Yangyang and… Huang Injun? No, Renjun. Huang Renjun.  _ Jisung mind supplied, his less than decent memory finally helping him out for once. 

 

He remembered Yangyang because of his awfully strange name. Who names their kid sheep sheep? It didn’t even seemed to suit him. He was the tanner of the two and had a nearly sculpted face, almost too angular for a kid their age. It made him look serious, but the minute he made any expression it was clear that impression was far from the truth. He smiled like a little kid, his overtly straight teeth shining white. 

 

Renjun on the other hand, seemed a little more reluctant. He had a much more innocent look to him - he was smaller, his eyes were big and he had a snaggle tooth that made him look even younger than he was. Jisung would be insane to say it out loud, but the boy looked a bit like a doll. Jisung nearly cringed when he even thought about it, but he just kind of gave off the frail and innocent impression.

 

“Of course!” Yangyang answered to their teacher’s surprise. He quickly ran over to the two piles of apples, choosing a red one for himself, and tossing the green one to Renjun. Renjun frowned as the apple nearly slipped away from his arms, obviously annoyed at being forced into the example round of it all. Yangyang still gave him unyielding puppy eyes, looking at him so excited that Renjun found himself sighing in submission.

 

He tossed the green apple up, catching it and then did so again, and again, until Yangyang found his focus and brought out his wand. Locking on his red apple, as well as the green apple that moved up and down, he finally found his timing after a few long seconds.

 

_ “Immutatio!”  _ He yelled out, and the consequences were immediate. The apple that fell into Renjun’s hand was red, switched with the green one that now sat comfortably within Yangyang’s palm. Beaming at his success, he held up the apple proudly, showing it off as a square, a toothy grin appearing on his face. 

 

“Very good. Very, very good. I hope our students will pay attention and do  _ just as well. _ ” He praised, but there was a lacing of venom within it, that was more than likely aimed towards the rest of the class. Jisung would’ve cringed, but he knew better than showing any vulnerability in front of that vulture of a teacher. “I’m going to pair you all up now. Do your best.” He said, going through the list of students he had for attendance.

 

“Chiasa Erii and Ogiwara Kazuki, Na Jaemin and Lee Donghyuck, Lee Mark and Lee Jeno, Sasai Tohru and Irie Yuri….” He kept calling one by one, but Jisung’s face already became that ugly shade of life drained white. He was going to be by himself, fighting against Transfiguration charms all by himself. He hates this subject so much, he wishes he could have dropped it. For anything. Even arithmancy if he had to. Just about anything would be better. “Park Jisung and Zhong Chenle.” 

 

Jisung snapped his head to Jaemin and Donghyuck, pointing a finger at himself. Was he really just chosen to be the partner of the Chinese prince? He already knew he was screwed. The Chinese exchange students isolated themselves a lot, but if there was one students in particular that was disconnected from the rest of the school, it was Zhong Chenle. And it wasn’t even because of himself! Every time someone even tried to look at Chenle, at least three members of the Chinese party would rally up and will cut any interaction short.

 

It didn’t seem like he was a bad guy himself, his apologetic, sunny smile remaining a staple on his face every time it happened, but nonetheless… He really didn’t want to get beat up by some older foreigners just because his ineptness with transfiguration spells.

Jaemin and Donghyuck looked at Jisung pitifully. They recognized the problems themselves, that’s for sure. Jisung just regretfully remembered how influential Jaemin said Chenle’s family is. And also that talk they had a bit afterwards, where he said that all of the others exchange students are probably super pressured to suck up to the kid. It didn’t help that now Jisung also noticed that Renjun and Yangyang had their eyes locked on him.

 

He really is the the dictionary definition of unlucky, he figured.

 

Chenle didn’t seem to think so, though. Skipping his way towards Jisung with a smile, he seemed excited. He even brought the two apples for them ahead of time. They never talked before, so it was weird to see the other boy looking so happy as he came closer, but Jisung wasn’t complaining. He’ll probably be safe if Chenle was on the happier side.

 

“You are Jisung, right? Nice to meet you! I’m Chenle!” He said brightly. He held out his hand, like a it was a business meeting, but the atmosphere was oddly friendly to contrast it. Jisung quickly took his hand, shaking it a little bit before nodding. Jisung would’ve been taken aback at Chenle knowing his name, but his two friends were literally the loudest students in their grade. He wouldn’t even know it through the grapevine, it would be from the megaphone that is Jaemin and Donghyuck’s vocal cords.

 

“Which one do you want?” Chenle showed his other hand, that was barely big enough to hold both of the small apples. Jisung examined the two apples, and decided that the red one fits him better. Red in general represented good things in Mahoutokoro. Colors were a goal. For example, Jisung couldn’t wait his robes will finally tint red instead of the ugly magenta that currently plagued most of the robes of the class. It wasn’t strange for second years to have magenta robes, but Jisung was kind of jealous in the reddish one Donghyuck already acquired. Red was a goal that he strived for.

 

“The red one seems good.” He said, taking it away from Chenle’s struggling hand. Jisung was still a bit nervous about performing the spell himself, and he bit his lip as he looked down at the apple. “Do you wanna try the spell first?” He said, both his voice and his smile having an uncomfortable edge to them. “I’m really no good in Transfiguration.” He added, knowing he probably sounded a bit pushy.

 

“No worries, I’m not good either. We’ll get better.” He answered optimistically, taking out his wand. It looked super fancy. Yellowish white, with intricate engravings of four diamonds placed symmetrically across its circumference, locked away between two lines that isolated them from the rest of the wand. Even the handle had an extra edge to it, angular and shaped like a diamond. Jisung nearly gasped out loud. Most of the wands he had seen were pretty standard and sleek, not personalized to that level.

 

“Woah! That’s so nice. What is it made from?” Jisung asked, treating the object like a treasure. It probably was. Even in the shop he went to a year back, there were only like five, really detailed ones, and those were both on display and costed a fortune. 

 

Chenle beamed. “Elder wood and unicorn hair. I was really shocked it chose me, it was one of the artisan ones even before we tweaked its shape... I think it’s the coolest when it’s in action, though.” He grinned, and tossed up his apple just to catch it, giggling in the process. Jisung gave him a challenging look, lifting up his red apple, moving it around between his hands.

 

“Go ahead, then.” He said, feeling a lot better than he did a few minutes ago. Chenle didn’t seem all that bad! Not at all, actually. He still worried he might turn him into a half apple by accident, but at least there was a good vibe. Maybe Chenle wouldn’t completely hate him if he fails that bad.  _ Though I don’t think it’s him I’ll have to worry about if I do.   _

 

Chenle focused on the red apple, his eyes squinting as he watched it. He waited for the right moment, and Jisung played as he waited, tossing it higher when Chenle seemed particularly focused, throwing it from hand to hand, doing anything to tease the other boy, who tried not to laugh at the faces Jisung made while he did that.

 

_ “Immutatio!”  _ Chenle called, and Jisung could almost  _ feel  _ the magic funneling and changing the apples, even making him drop the now green apple to the floor. Jisung broke into a huge, excited green, still touching the place when his hand felt the magic upon. He had felt spells before, several of which he sourly regrets he did, but there was nothing quite like what he felt that split second the apple changed. It was raw magic, strong and stable and  _ alive.  _

 

No wonder they say wands are also sentient.

 

“That was so cool. Woah, my hand is still itching from that. Can you see it? Just woah.” Jisung showed his palm, not even caring about the fallen apple. Chenle gloated at Jisung’s excitement, happy to be its cause. Grinning and nodding in pride, he then nudged with his hand to Jisung’s wand, that sat prettily on table.

 

“It’s your turn now.” He reminded, raising the topic as a challenge. There was a surge of confidence the grew in Jisung. It wasn’t in a rival-like tone, but Chenle looked at him as if he could do just as well as he did, regardless of the fact he barely knew him. There was no arrogance, there was only encouragement, and despite absolutely sucking at Transfiguration, Jisung had to admit, it was nice to have someone the believed in you for a change.

 

Jisung was then reminded of professor Takanashi, who did exactly the opposite of what he just described. The man was looking at him and Chenle, assessing their performance, and he seemed to be particularly locked on Jisung, something that was always a constant in his classes. This time however, Jisung really wanted to think he could do it, instead of just giving up ahead of time.

 

Picking up the green apple from the floor, Jisung nodded and tried to relish in the weird sense of pride that washed over him. “I’m gonna do it!” Jisung told himself, but Chenle nonetheless nodded and encouraged him as he started moving the red apple within his hands. 

 

Picking up his own chestnut wand, Jisung tried to concentrate on the apples. He waited for the correct time, as he kept thinking to himself.  _ I’m going to do it, and stupid ponytail teacher can’t tell me otherwise, I’m going to prove that I’m good enough to do the damn spell even if he doesn’t help me….  _ Jisung got so stuck within his own thoughts, that he realized he is almost missing a good time to do the spell.

 

Hastily he tried to get it out.  _ “M-muto!”  _  he blabbered as he searched for the correct word, almost dying out of embarrassment when it actually got out of his mouth. He closed his eyes, praying that he didn’t mutate Chenle or anything. Until he heard a low voice yelping. He opened his eyes. Chenle was just fine, and was still holding the green apple he had in his hand.

 

He looked to the side, from where he had heard the noise from. Professor Takanashi was rubbing the top of his head, and a lone, red apple rolled on the ground as if teasing Jisung. Not knowing to be if to be terrified or amused, Jisung immediately bowed towards the teacher. 

 

“Forgive me, sir, I didn’t mean to, it was on accident…” he started mumbling, still in a bowing state, as the rest of the children tried not to laugh at the entire scenario. The professor had a deep frown on his face, and could be heard exhaling from a mile away. The class was dead silent until he opened his mouth.

 

_ “Class is dismissed.  _ Everyone who didn’t manage the spell will be redoing it next class with  _ rats  _ as the switchable beings.” He seethed, and stomped his way out of the class. With was swish of his wand, all of the apples disappeared, any trace of a class being held gone as he left the room. 

All aside from the bumbling children, that could finally let out their laughter. 

 

Chenle in particular, couldn’t help himself, almost yelling out the laughs from how high pitched his voice was. Jisung became his pouty self, feeling defensive as the giggling of his classmates echoed in the room. “I told you, I suck at Transfiguration!” He barked out, his hands covering his face.

 

“Maybe, but it was legendary.” Chenle said, wiping a tear out of his eye. Most of the class was smiling at him, Jaemin and Donghyuck were sarcastically clapping, and even Yangyang and Renjun were amused rather anything else. He wasn’t even speaking terms with Mark and Jeno at the moment, but both of them looked just as happy the rest of the class.

 

There were two things he learned today. First, maybe all of the Chinese students weren’t all that cocky.

 

Second, a hated teacher is all you really need in order to unite a class

 

-

 

Jisung tried to speak to Chenle several times after that class. 

 

It was hard.

 

Chenle was a nice enough of a person, but there was a legitimate problem with him being constantly surrounded by other, older, and  _ very  _ protective students from lóng fèng. Jisung could understand them to some degree - he did hear a few students talking about Chenle as if he was bank account instead of an actual person, but that didn’t mean all of them were like that! 

 

It kind of sucked, and Jisung felt pretty bad because honestly, he kind of gave up after the second time he did, and from there just kind of tried to wave towards the boy whenever he saw him in the halls. It was honestly really intimidating. The handsome guy Jisung saw back at their welcoming feast, Sicheng, already glared daggers at him at this point. Sicheng never even tried to talk to him, but Jisung sincerely preferred to steer clear of him for now, seeing the fourth year was not only taller, but his physique really solidified that Jisung will die if they got into a fight.

 

And it wasn’t like the rest of them were much better. Most of them held warnings in their eyes, aside from Yangyang and Renjun, who gave pitiful gazes every time he came across their group. He guessed it wasn’t his destiny to befriend Chenle, and that was okay. Jaemin and Donghyuck were more than enough for him, and he guessed he had to be grateful they wanted to be there with him. His starting reputation wasn’t all that great, truthfully.

 

Unlike Chenle, the rest of the students from lóng fèng already started finding friends of their own within the school. Particularly, Renjun and Yangyang seemed to hit it off well with Mark and Jeno. Needless to say, Jisung was a bit jealous. Maybe it was because everything Mark was doing was going great for him, his Quidditch gear fitting him nicely, while getting good grades and getting along with some of the most reclusive of students with no problem.

 

He was sulking at his seat, his eyes unwilling to let the four go unnoticed.  _ Of course they were sitting just one or two seats away. Why wouldn’t they? _ Grumpily he just ate in dismay, chewing his food about twenty times slower than any other day. Donghyuck and Jaemin busied themselves in the roast beef sandwich that the school supplied for today, so he really had no choice but listen to the four of them talking.

 

“...I just really need to fix this snaggletooth. I liked it before because it made me look like Sicheng ge, but, now that we are officially brothers and he fixed his own.. well, it sort of looks dumb. Stopped holding a meaning, you know?” Renjun said, irritated.

 

“It makes you look cute. Shame to lose one of your only charms, Junnie.” Yangyang teased, and Renjun put him in a headlock, as the other laughed. Yangyang was a bit stronger than Renjun, something that was clear with how he broke free of the headlock easily. Renjun certainly didn’t care about that much, seeing it was the third time today he low key wrestled the other.

 

“Can’t you ask your brother about it then? You said he fixed it with a spell before, no? It should be easy.” Mark asked, curious. Jisung was a bit curious about it too. He heard he needed braces for slight tweaking before, if he could avoid that… all hail the wizarding world and it’s innovative dentistry. 

 

“You can only get that procedure from a certain age, like all teeth related charms. Something about milk teeth being still out. It’s all stupid. But I guess it’s okay for now. Qian said she thinks it’s cute too, and well, she just adopted me as her brother, so I guess I can handle having the snaggletooth for now.” Renjun explained, and Jisung just realized the family tree - he was the adopted brother of the female dragon professor and scary handsome guy. Jisung made a mental note to never  _ ever _ mess with Renjun.

 

“Huh? But Jeno, didn’t you say you went to get your teeth settled by that wizard specialist a while back?” Mark questioned, and Jisung distantly remembered the day Mark spent nearly the entire day with the 127 team because Jeno was simply not there. That entire day was salt rubbed into Jisung’s wounds.

 

“Oh, um…” Jeno started, giving a few uncomfortable laughs. “Well, you see..” He tried to find words to explain, but it really didn’t manage to actually find words. Donghyuck lifted his head from the boiled pork pieces he was now gobbling up, a stare just as judgmental as it was deadpanned. 

 

“Are you all really going to be like that? Of course he gets dentist privileges, he’s a freaking half-vampire. If he doesn’t get his teeth maintained in time they will make him look like some sabre-tooth tiger.” He interrupted, his lips in a tight line. Jaemin looked at Donghyuck, and almost immediately, Donghyuck hissed in pain. “What did you kick me for?!” Donghyuck yelled, lifting his leg and rubbing it.

 

Jeno turned white. Well, whiter, he already had a fairly light skin due to his condition, but he practically looked ill at that moment. There was silence at the table, and Mark, completely taken aback, snapped his head towards Jeno and looked at him up and down, waiting for any kind of refute that he would make. Nothing came. Not a single word.

 

“...Are you?...” Mark carefully asked, his voice shocked and all of the sudden distant. Some kids at the table started listening into the the drama, making a point to ‘ooh’ every single time anyone spoke. Jisung would’ve have punched something if he was the center of this drama. 

 

“I’m…” Jeno looked down, looking so vulnerably ashamed, that even Jisung didn’t have the heart to not feel bad for him. Even if they weren’t on good terms, Jeno didn’t look that scared since that day he ran away from Jaemin after class. Mark, looking as upset as Jeno, left his seat and soon after the hall. Jisung could see him chewing on his lips as he got out. Jeno’s eyes turned glassy, but his face turned red, and not from embarrassment. He swiftly got out of his chair, and went straight to Jaemin, who looked just as distressed as Mark and Jeno.

 

“I told you. I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL! Is this funny to you? Do you think that just because you are from a fancy shmancy pureblood family, you can look down and mess with half-breeds? I’ve been called vile my whole life, do you really want me to prove that? I CAN!” Jeno was nearly choking Jaemin, his eyes bleeding red as he roared at him. Almost immediately the entire table cleared, a bunch of scared students yelping and screeching.

 

Donghyuck tried to pull Jeno off of Jaemin just to be tossed to the side. Jeno made no point to hit Jaemin, but yelled off enough curses to alert all of the older students of the situation. He was hissing with his teeth bared, holding Jaemin by his robe, and it looked like a scenario out of mafia film, where the victim had no chance of being saved.

 

Of course, it wasn’t really the case. In seconds there were people running towards them. Jung Jaehyun, one of the players on the 127 team, had sprinted right towards the two and  _ ripped  _ Jeno off of Jaemin in one swoop, holding him as if he was a toddler rather than an adolescent, his eyes glowing yellow as he did. Jeno tried to escape his grip, but soon enough figured out that half-vampire or not, he was not nearly strong enough to get out of it. 

 

So he just sobbed. He gave up, not trying anymore to either hide himself or fight back. Jeno just wept, and it made all of the hall freeze. Jaemin was trembling, but the terror of his face could not be described as fear, because despite being nearly manhandled, he still tried to edge forward towards Jeno, mumbling incoherent words that couldn’t be heard under Jeno’s wails.

 

At some point, professor Maki came forwards to Jaehyun. “Get the poor boy out of here. We’ll take him to the headmaster.” She said quietly, and Jaehyun nodded, lifting Jeno a bit higher as he took him away. Johnny came to Jaemin and Donghyuck, followed by Taeil who came to help as well.

 

“Let’s go to the nurses wing, you have a few red marks, Minnie.” Johnny whispered softly, running his hand through Jaemin’s hair, trying to comfort him. “You friend kind of got rolled away too, so we’ll make sure both of you are fine.” He referred to Donghyuck of course, who was now slowly standing up with Taeil’s help. 

 

Jisung quickly stood up and tried to join them, but Taeil stopped him. “Jisung, stay here and finish eating. They’ll probably be taken straight to the headmaster’s office after getting checked up. I promise you everything will be okay.” He assured, and Donghyuck gave him a resigned look.  _ Just go with it, Sungie.  _

 

And he remained in his place, resenting the fact he would have to look back at the crowd behind him, gossiping and making up rumors about his friends. He stared at Donghyuck and Jaemin’s back as they were helped out, and felt simply estranged.

 

The inner turmoil inside him was almost possessing him to run out anyway, but a hand on his shoulder changed took him back to reality. It was Yangyang, his face sympathetic and understanding. Renjun was beside him, looking a bit more worried. He wondered if they pitied him so much they decided to come up to him, but regardless, he guessed it was nice of them. 

 

“Come sit with us, maybe? You seemed fun in Transfiguration.” Renjun said nervously, but it was obvious he was trying to keep it lighthearted. Jisung didn’t answer immediately, but nodded slightly. He was tight lipped and restless, but he knew that was his best choice. It wasn’t like anyone was going to talk to him right now otherwise.

 

“Keep the wand away from the pudding though. It’s my favorite.” Yangyang joked, putting his arm on his shoulder, and dragging him towards their spot. Jisung snorted weakly, and joined them at the table.

 

He felt watched again, but made no point to look for who. At this point, it could be the whole world - and Jisung simply did not care.

 

-

 

Mark felt frustrated. Extremely frustrated.

 

Currently in the boys bathroom, he tried to calm himself down. He washed his face a few times more than he needed, and tried to think everything over. 

He just didn’t get it.

 

Jeno was never close with Donghyuck, in fact, Jeno openly said he thought Donghyuck was childish whenever Mark complained about his antics. They never gotten along. Why would he tell him about such a big secret and keep it away from Mark for so long?

 

It drove Mark insane, not because Jeno was a vampire, or half, or whatever. It was the fact that he was Jeno’s friends for so much longer, his only friend, to some degree, and yet he was here shafted. It was the fact that Jeno probably didn’t trust Mark all that much or at all, knowing that  _ Donghyuck  _ knew and he didn’t. It’s was the fact he felt guilty over Jeno’s completely terrified face when he got out of the hall.

 

_ But it’s not my fault!  _

 

It wasn’t even the first time he felt bad over something that wasn’t supposed to be on him. The Ice Melting Races were such a fun time until he realized Jisung Park was no longer looking at him in the eye because he ‘stole’ his place in the 127 team. Jisung never said anything, but he knew from the longing stares at his own quidditch uniform and the hurtful rumors that Mark somehow manipulated the Taeyong to give him the spot that there’s no way that Jisung would speak to him even if they were locked in an empty room.

 

He almost wanted to go back home. Back to Changmin, his brother, where he could come after school to play in the top floor of his company. To see Minseok again, running around trying to get files on time for his brother while being the best secretary ever and letting him have some ice cream out of the office’s kitchen. Just have a normal life, and maybe just learn magic from Minseok, because honestly, that would be way easier.

 

But he remembered his brother telling him that he was special for the magic the was within him, that he should cherish the opportunity to discover a world the most people have no idea exists. Changmin himself had no powers, and the only reason Mark was discovered to have some is the fact that Minseok, although settled in a muggle way of life, was a half-blood wizard. The way Mark was discovered was so stupid - he turned pieces of melon that Minseok brought to Changmin into watermelons because he was craving them. 

 

Later on, Mark was introduced to a friend of his brother, Jung Yunho, who told him that he would quickly arrange for him to get into a wizarding school, complimenting the magical capability he held. He should be grateful to Yunho, for getting him in the school and for Minseok, for helping him to get all the things he needs. He should be grateful for his brother, for supporting him so much despite he himself could not see the wonders.

 

The wizarding world was so unfamiliar and weird, that sometimes Mark just couldn’t comprehend it. He strived and worked to be the best he can and discover more and more, but… sometimes he just wished for things to be more clear. He was so scared about his future in this world, that refused to be determined and solidified. He was afraid of the unanswered questions in his head. Is he going to find the answers

 

Would he have to do it alone?

 

Jeno provided a sense of security. He wasn’t very sociable, but they came to school on the same day, in similar circumstances, and straight away they clicked well. Jeno was a part of the wizarding world, so he helped Mark with everything he didn’t know, and did it out of the kindness of his heart. He never asked for anything, and was always supportive no matter what Mark tried to do, even if he couldn’t do so himself.

 

Mark just felt so guilty, and so alone at the same time. Did Jeno have a reason not to tell him? Was he being out of line? He had no idea, and he couldn’t base it on anything, because no one he knew was in a situation like this, and he had no idea vampires were real until he got into the school. How is he supposed to know what's right and what’s wrong for them?

He gulped at the thought he stormed away from scared Jeno for no reason. biting further into an already bruised lip, he drew a bit of blood, and sighed from the timing of it.

 

Mark got to his final conclusion. He should go talk to Jeno, he should ask why and how everything ended up this way. Because if he wouldn’t, he would be tossing away a person that did nothing but help him, and even more than that. He would be running away from a world just because he’s afraid to get to know it.

 

Drying his face with some paper towels, he calmed himself down and gave himself an inner pep-talk. When he finally felt confident enough, he walked out of the bathrooms, ready and willing to find Jeno and talk to him one on one.

 

It didn’t take long to find Jeno, but it was very clear they wouldn’t be speaking any time soon.

 

Jeno was walking next to someone who looked like an older version of him, ashamed with his eyes glued to the floor. The older man was taking him away, frowning sadly as he did, squeezing Jeno’s shoulder. They were going towards the entrance. Mark was ready to dash over, but they were already out. Professor Maki was the person that escorted them out, so Mark went to her.

 

“Professor, I’m sorry, but what’s going on?” 

 

The professor looked at him tiredly, her hands held together in worry.

 

“Your friend is suspended for a few days, dear. Sadly, he said that he feels like he doesn’t fit in here. His brother and him would be contemplating his return.”

 

-

 

“Junnie, are you okay? I heard the incident happened next to you.” Qian asked the minute she arrived the male dormitory Mahoutokoro provided them. Renjun was a bit overwhelmed, seeing that the woman was holding him by both of his shoulders, looking way more worried than she should be. Qian was always like a true sister to him since he met her, but she really needs to stop acting like he’s made out of porcelain. 

 

“I’m fine! It wasn’t even all that serious. The kid who started the fight didn’t even try to hit the other guy… he was just kind of.. uh, aggressive. I didn’t really understand what it was all about though.” He said, trying to calm her down. Qian just huffed, relieved. 

 

“Keep your guard up, sweetie. If the kid is truly a half-vampire, it could’ve ended very bad. That other kid who got tossed to the wall could have been easily flung at you.” She said, and although Renjun wanted to roll his eyes, he just gave her an affirmative ‘ah-hmm’. If he just agrees, there wouldn’t be a reason to talk about it anymore.

 

“I think he had fun today, teach’. He and Yangyang talked to that student before the fight broke out, and even went sat with that guy who made that ponytail professor mad afterwards. No need to worry.” Ten snickered from the sofa he laid on, and Renjun could’ve given him a death glare if Qian wasn’t right there at the moment. The woman frowned.

 

“I hope you do know that the staff here doesn’t like us all that much to begin with, Renjun. Don’t go make them like you even less.” She warned, sounding more like her usual teacher self than the caring person that adopted him into her family.

 

“I don’t think that teacher likes anything. And Jisung was actually really nice! He just isn’t all that good in Transfiguration, and well… no one is helping him. It was actually really funny to talk to him. He’s afraid of Sicheng ge because he glares at people too much.” Renjun broke into a smile, and Qian snorted at the thought. 

 

“Well, your brother  _ is  _ kind of overdoing the bodyguard role… Chenle shouldn’t get into a position people can use him, but he can interact with people. The students are really not the problem in the situation.” She said, and Renjun got the feeling she was also kind of speaking to herself. 

 

Chenle then ran out of nowhere to them, his eyes gleaming. He was holding onto Qian’s robe, giving her big puppy eyes in the process.

 

“Can you  _ please  _ tell it to the rest of them?! Yukhei and Xiaojun always try to look all buff and intimidating when people try to talk to me! Dejun looks ridiculous, too, it’s like a lose-lose situation! Please save me, professor Song!” He whined, and protests from both Xiaojun and Yukhei could be heard from up the stairs. Ten couldn’t help but snort and even Renjun let out a short huff of air as he tried not to laugh.

 

Qian looked at Chenle awkwardly, realizing the mess she had gotten herself into. Chenle really wanted to meet new friends, but he was restricted in most ways than one. There was an entire story about why Chenle shouldn’t be associated with strangers, and it was way beyond one teacher to decide upon.

 

“Professor Song, I think you should go to the girl dormitory? I think Ningning tried to sneak out to see the dragons again.” A calm voice said, and another person joined in the room. It was Professor Zhang, or Yixing, as he preferred being called. The woman mouthed a thanks to her fellow teacher before kissing Renjun’s forehead and wishing good night to the rest of the room. She left as quickly as she could.

 

Chenle pouted, annoyed. He didn’t have a say in most things in his life at the moment, and Renjun felt for him. They were friends for a long time, and he knew Chenle was growing agitated from being thrown into situations he did not wish for, and not having any control on them even when he was. 

 

“But really, would it be that bad just to let me talk to somebody?” He mumbled, kicking at nothing. 

 

Yixing came down the flight of stairs near his room. He looked at Chenle fondly, knowing what he felt, but Renjun knew all the teacher could give Chenle was empathy. “If they are associated to the wrong person, then yes.” He reminded, and Chenle’s shoulders dropped, inhaling heavily as he was met with the same answer he always received. 

 

“Lele, tomorrow I’ll go back to bugging you all day. Sorry me and Yangyang kind of ditched you, Mark just invited us to sit with them and it was awkward to say no.” Renjun apologized, and Yixing smiled at the two of them. Chenle gave him a small glare, but softened very quickly into a smile.

 

“It’s fine, I have you twenty four seven with me ever since we were two. It was nice to catch a break as well.” He joked, and Renjun gave him a mock punch to the shoulder.

 

“Maybe I should do it more, then?” He wondered aloud, making Chenle giggle.

 

“Only if tell me everything that happened afterwards.” Chenle responded, his smile back on. It never ceased to amaze Renjun how quickly the boy recovered from sadness and disappointment. Renjun was convinced that Chenle was a walking ray of sunlight. Nothing could put the boy down for long.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yixing going up the stairs and catching Chenle’s cousin, Kun, for a talk. He quickly looked away. Whatever it was that they were talking about, it looked serious.

 

For Chenle’s sake more than his own, he hoped that it was nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them! I'm less on Twitter since my computer broke down, but if you want to know anything, let me know here and I will answer it asap. have a great day/night, I hope you enjoyed!


	6. Bludgers Hit Hard, Life Hits Harder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! I felt pretty motivated, so I managed to get it out faster than usual :> The We Boom album gave me such nice vibes to write, best friend is really that chill song to imagine them having fun to, lol. Some more character POV's, and this time we also have the first non-nct member pov! I hope you will enjoy it, hehe. ALSO! Thank you very much for 40 kudos and over 700 hits! bookmarks too! love you all so much! Also super thanks for those who left comments - you are really a driving force for motivation. thank you so so so much!

To say Jaemin was depressed would be an understatement. Jisung had seen Jaemin is a sad state many times before, but this time it was just plain self-destructive. Jaemin had a wide range of stages to his sadness, beginning from the pouty, puppy like expressions he gave to others when he wasn’t given attention, and ending with him locking himself away in his room and refusing to acknowledge anyone when promises were broken.. but it was never quite like this.

 

This time, Jaemin looked as hollow and dead as an old ragdoll that was left behind by its owner. His eyes were dark, not holding the usual spark of light to them, and he barely spoke, his usually chapped lips looking practically broken from how much he bit them. Jisung didn’t even think Jaemin found it in himself to drink anything, it was basically a wonder he wasn’t passed out from dehydration. 

 

He looked like a pale, ghastly version of himself, and with all do respect to the ghost he met in the Hanok Village, Jisung really thought that ghost-Jaemin had to go. And as soon as possible. He just couldn’t keep quiet when he saw barely swallowing one spoon of their given soup. At some point when Jisung realized that Jaemin is not going to eat anything he had on his plate (that Jisung had to make for him!), he decided it was time to ditch the great hall and go to the Great Room Of Conference And Debate, otherwise known as Jisung’s humble abode in the castle.

 

“Jaemin, come on, let’s go.” He said, rising up from his chair. Jaemin looked at lethargically, having no power to either stand or to refuse. Jisung wished Donghyuck was with them. If he was here, they could have dragged the pureblood in seconds out in some way or another. But Donghyuck was still at the nurse’s wing, as there were some worries about his spine from how brutally he got flung away by Jeno the day before. They were assured he would make full recovery, but knowing the severity of the injury only made Jaemin feel even more sick, as he clearly blamed himself.

 

After a few hushed encouragements and endless pulling at his now stretched out robe, Jaemin came out of his seat. Jisung could tell that he was tired. He looked like a raccoon, even though he would never say it in front of him, and for a person with such good genes and amazing high class family, he scarily reminded of some other orphans he knew before he came to the school. 

 

He rushed Jaemin out of the room and dragged him through the stairs to the dorms. He was evidently worried that Jaemin might accidentally won’t notice or simply wouldn’t care to fall down the staircase, looking back every few seconds even though he was already holding the other’s wrist for reassurance that he’s still there.

 

Finally reaching to the doorstep of his room, Jisung never felt happier at seeing the three painted snitches that flew above the left side of his door.  _ Nothing more fitting than a snitch when you want to escape from people. _

 

“Sungie, I’m just feeling sick. I’ll go to professor Terada and tell him, they’ll let me go home. It’s fine.” Jaemin tried, but Jisung wasn’t having it. Aside from seeing Jaemin sad, he had also seen Jaemin sick. Back then when he came over for the vacation in the Na Household Jaemin somehow had managed to catch a cold in the in the middle of August, and in the feverish temperature of almost 39 degrees of body heat he came out of his bed and said he wanted to go to Sister Cities Portkey and go to San Diego, because it’s the coolest sister city Jeonju had.

 

Needless to say, Yoona said no. 

 

But the main point was that Jaemin was not sick by actual, physical health standards. Jisung was well aware that if it was only that, Jaemin would have been out and about sneaking some of pork belly from the hall to Donghyuck, because everyone and their mother know that the food provided in the nurse’s wing is more likely to make you barf than anything that landed you in that place. If he was actually sick, Jisung would have been the one to drag him to the professors, but Jisung knew for a fact he wasn’t.

 

“Quit it, we’re talking about this now. What happened in the Headmaster’s office?” He pushed Jaemin in, and it felt like a rerun to the beginning of the year, when they ended up in this room together because of Jeno fleeing. The situation was so similar it almost made Jisung think he should be having a talk with Jeno, but right now he has enough people he needs to take care of.  _ And I barely take care of myself, sheesh. _

 

Jaemin frowned and did the closest thing to a glare he could conjure, because honestly, Jisung doesn’t think the boy is able to glare sincerely. And especially not at Jisung. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He said, trying to sound intimidating enough and make sure the conversation ended there, but Jaemin and his pouting were about as intimidating as baby Simba trying to roar in Lion King, so Jisung couldn’t really care less. 

 

“Too bad, you are talking about it. What happened? And maybe tell me what the hell happened yesterday, because I’ve been in the dark for the entire day and all I got out of it was Yangyang from potions stealing my last dumpling at dinner. So talk about it, or I’m going to write a letter to Yoona and tell her I want the samoyed keychain I gave you on your birthday back.” Jisung practically shoved his finger in Jaemin’s face, but it was necessary. Nana was in a slump and it was only going to get worst if he didn’t do anything. 

 

Jaemin, for the first time this day finally looked reactive, if not completely animated. “Excuse me?!” He parted the bottom part of his shawly robe, showing off a samoyed keychain that was attached to one of the belt loops on his jeans. “Yoona don’t even have access to it in the first place, and you’re being really mean today, you know that?” Jaemin complained, the small samoyed figurine hidden inside his palm protectively. 

 

Jisung didn’t know if to be flattered or try ripping it off for better results.  _ I’m getting ahead of myself. Better off not do that, probably.  _

 

“Don’t you think it’s mean to leave me out of the loop, leaving me worried about you and Donghyuck through the night, and practically not speaking to me the entire morning?” He countered, his eyes furrowed into two angry, angled lines. “Renjun and Yangyang felt so bad looking at me they invited me to sit with them, and until yesterday they only sat in their  _ own school’s clique _ ! Do you understand how hopeless I must’ve looked?” He kept on going, and Jaemin flinched and the higher tones the other reached as he grew more and more aggressive. 

 

“I’m sorry.” Jaemin whispered, clearly only feeling more guilty than he did before. Jisung breathed in and out. He was ought to try to calm himself down, his friend was in shambles as it is. Shutting his eyes hard, he regained some level-headedness, and faced his friend again. 

 

“Just tell me what happened. I want to  _ help _ .” He pleaded with Jaemin, knowing that he wouldn’t deny Jisung for too long. Jaemin sighed as if his lungs rejected the air around him, but nonetheless, Jisung knew he had relented. Jaemin didn’t seem like he had any power to argue, either way.

 

“I really messed up.” He said, and in any other situation, Jisung would have definitely commented that anyone with a working set of eyes could have noticed that, but today it would be a tad bit too insensitive. Jisung nodded, encouraging the other to continue with his story.

 

“Jeno was keeping the half-vampire thing a secret. I told you and Donghyuck the moment I realized he was one, but afterwards, the day the races took place, he told me he wanted to keep it quiet. I felt bad because I already told you, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit that to him… it seemed so important to him.” Jaemin said gravely, and Jisung could already vaguely understand where all of this was going.

 

“When Hyuck said it out loud in the dining hall, it was the first time Mark heard about it, He had no idea. So Jeno naturally grew really mad and figured I didn’t keep my mouth shut. He lost his only friend… He was crying in the headmaster office, but he barely said anything to defend himself. Even when they asked him why he acted the way he did, he just said he’s sorry.” Jaemin continued, and Jisung rubbed his shoulder. It must have been horrible. He can’t imagine what went through either of their minds.

 

“Yoona and his brother got summoned and appeared a bit later. Yoona nearly had a heart attack when she saw the red marks I had, and Jeno’s brother made him bow with him and ask for forgiveness. He got suspended for like, a week. Sungie,  _ a week.”  _ He repeated, at this point barely lifting his head up, all he could bear to see was the floor.

 

“And that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is that after Headmaster Miyamoto suspended him, Jeno spoke up and said that he doesn’t know if he fits the school. That maybe he shouldn’t come back.” Finally Jaemin finished his tale, and by this point Jisung knew that the guilt was absolutely eating Jaemin alive.

 

Jisung didn’t know what to do. If he could understand or comfort any side of that story, it would’ve been Jeno, because who wouldn’t have felt absolutely horrible. It didn’t mean Jeno had the right to hurt either Jaemin or Donghyuck, but anyone who sat close enough to the incident could tell that Jeno was holding back even in the brink of losing his mind. He didn’t  _ try  _ to hurt them, and Jaemin knew that as well, and it only made it all worse.

 

“You didn’t mean to.” Jisung said in the end. What else could he say, he didn’t know. 

 

“But I made it all happen anyway.” He said bitterly, almost as bitter as the espresso shots his sister drank each morning. He might’ve grew used the taste from drinking her coffee, but Jaemin wasn’t able to ignore bitter feelings quite as well. 

 

“You didn’t mean to.” Jisung said again.

 

“I just want things to return to normal. For everything to be okay again.” Jaemin sniffed, and Jisung hugged him, uncomfortable in both the fact that he had no words to comfort Jaemin, as well as the fact that the tears from Jaemin’s eyes started flowing the minute his head was curled against him.

 

He didn’t think Jaemin could process any advice on what to do at the moment, it certainly didn’t feel like the right time to say it, but…    
  
_ Some things just won’t work out on their own. _

 

For now, all Jisung could wish is for Jaemin and Jeno alike to be okay.

 

-

 

Mark had been sweating bullets. He had been practicing quidditch with the 127 team for three hours straight. Mahoutokoro took their quidditch very seriously, and when there were upcoming games, teams were encouraged to take a day off their studies for practice. It was complete chaos for him - Mark didn’t get assigned a role yet, so for now he was practicing for literally  _ all of them.  _

 

He thought he’d be a seeker, but another kid that joined named Kim Jungwoo got that role after placing first in the Hoarfrost race. Mark also discovered that while he was great at flying, he was only great at it when he was in position for it, and with amount of times he had to face plant the field trying to catch a  _ slowed down  _ snitch, he and the team figured he might be better suited for other things. 

 

It was particularly annoying because Mark also knew he wouldn’t be playing in the next few games anyway. He was mostly a switch in. They had a full team for now, and he couldn’t really push out experienced upperclassman. He really wasn’t talented enough to beat experience. So right now, he was practicing every single role possible in a quidditch game,  _ knowing he’s not going to play in any game.  _ Unless someone got injured. But he didn’t really want to count on that.   
  
It kept his mind off of the Jeno situation, but he was so incredibly tired by the third hour he really ached to go on a little break.

 

He must have been so disillusioned by the time he got to practice being a Beater, because for heaven’s sake, that bludger was a demon that he simply could not follow. That thing looked absolutely mad, and everyone out here were telling him he needs to beat it with a stick away from teammates and at foes. Mark didn’t know if he could handle knowing that his job is aiming actual satan incarnates at people.

 

Regardless, he still tried. The first time the bludger came to him, he barely got away from having a broken hand seeing that he almost hit the ball with his own boney arm instead of the designated bat. The second, he almost fell off his broom because the bludger came so close to his face he panicked. Third, he actually did manage to hit the bludger with the bat, but it broke right through the window of the nurse’s wing because aiming was sincerely not the first thing he thought about when it came close. 

 

“Well, we’re getting there.” Taeyong tried, seeing the embarrassed look on Mark’s face.

 

“Getting it into the nurse’s office over there really is not much of an achievement. Miss Kenko might just scream when she realize how her window got shattered. She’s been requesting to move the wing somewhere else for years now.” Yuta snorted, clearly being used to such mishaps. Mark was convinced he’d seen much worse, and he was kind of worried about it.

 

“We’re going to need to go get the bludger though. The teachers will kill us if we make one of their precious handmade bludgers go missing.” Johnny added. He was a beater and it showed in his heavy dislike for anything positive about bludgers. Probably because Johnny was massive for his age and the bludgers targeted and hit him much more often than others.

 

“Usually I’d just tell someone to go with Mark since he beat it, but seeing where it landed… Let’s just go all four of us. Since it’s the nurse wing and if the bludger is still active someone really might die.” Taeyong said with an amused face, and Mark couldn’t really tell if it was a joke, but he certainly hoped it was.

 

They all flew to the building entrance, making it in less than a minute on their brooms. Yuta told him that since Mahoutokoro has a reputation for quidditch, they also treat quidditch injuries very, very seriously, and consequently built of of their three quidditch fields right in front of the healers. It wasn’t surprising, considering quidditch was so often played and practiced that they had to make it somehow more manageable. When your average count of people falling from their brooms is three a day would certainly be a wise choice. 

 

Inside of the building itself, it was really not hard to tell where the bludger was. The heavy  _ thumps _ that resounded through the walls were more than enough to understand, and the four ran upstairs to the infirmary, knowing that if you made a mess, you are probably ought to fix it.  

 

When they got inside, they were shown a chaotic scene - a mean, fanatical bludger tossing itself against some invisible wall, probably cast by the enraged Miss Kenko that was currently holding her up towards it, looking like she was ready to kill somebody, and an older student trying to help a younger student get back on the bed as the younger was in visible and audible pain. 

 

_...Wait, Donghyuck is still here? What did Jeno do to him? _

 

“YOU RASCALS! YOU BETTER CATCH THAT THING RIGHT NOW! I WON’T HAVE THIS DEMON BALL INJURING MY ALREADY ILL PATIENTS!” Miss Kenko screeched, her voice could probably shatter eardrums better than any banshee. Her flaming, dyed red hair seemed flaming from how frizzy it was. The way her words struck students like they got burnt only helped solidify that picture in Mark's head. Yuta, Taeyong and Johnny flinched and ran over to help as she released the invisible barrier. Johnny stood in front of the ball in true beater fashion, a bat in his hand and a target on his face. as Taeyong and Yuta surrounded the ball with him. 

 

Shooting at Johnny like the asteroids hitting the earth, Johnny flew backwards, catching the ball into his arms and not letting it escape. Mark never imagined he’d see a nearly 180cm guy nearly being dragged by a possessed ball, but that’s what happened. Miss Kenko without missing a beat lifted her wand and yelled  _ ‘ligo’,  _ causing the ball to stop moving, looking like a toy running out of batteries. 

 

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll go ask to remake my window with  _ rubber,”  _ She started, her glare constant and menacing. “ _ And start keeping your bludgers to yourselves.  _ Our former championship teams would be ashamed to hear Mahoutokoro’s students can’t keep a bludger in check.” She said, her white heels clanking against the floor as she walked away from them.

 

Mark never heard angier steps in his life.

 

“Johnny.” The older student that just helped Donghyuck spoke. Only one word, and although his voice was much more pleasant to the ears than Miss Kenko’s, it was also much more reserved and guarded than hers. Mark could tell he wasn't having a pleasant day.

 

Johnny smiled a little bit, now holding onto the defeated bludger as if it was a plushie rather than the bully ball Johnny regarded it as. “Ah, I’m okay, don’t worry about it Taeil! I’m completely fine, kind of used to taking hits from bludgers.” He lifted his hand to run it through his messy hair. The silence was uncomfortable, spanning over a few good seconds until the other student talked again.

 

“I wanted you to spell away the glass shards…” Taeil said, his voice trailing off in what Mark thought was secondhand embarrassment. Johnny grew red, giving a small, embarrassed ‘oh’ before searching for his wand pouch. He put the bludger on the ground before whipping out the pear wood wand, which was overtly long just like Johnny himself. He whispered the spell quietly. 

 

_ “Lucius annaeus seneca.”  _ The spell was nearly sung, but Johnny’s voice was too soft to really hear a tune. The shards however, were completely gone.

 

“Be more careful. Donghyuck had been on bone fixer potions since yesterday night. He rolled off of the bed because the bludger aimed at him. If I wasn’t here I don’t know what would’ve happened. He’ll probably get another potion because of this.” He said worriedly, petting Donghyuck’s hair as the boy readjusted his body to look at him. 

 

“I’m fine, hyung. you are a quality beater.” Donghyuck laughed, only to wince in pain almost immediately afterwards. Taeil sat next to him, his hand on his shoulder, slowly pushing him down for him to lay straight.

 

“Sorry about it, we really can’t help it.. Mark’s a new member, and we tried out different roles for him… I think we now established he’s probably going to be a chaser, though.” Yuta scratched his head, chuckling through his words. Mark was completely fine with being a chaser, as it was definitely his favorite role of the bunch and gave him a big smile. Taeil didn’t seem all that amused however.

 

“You are considered one of the better teams in our school, don’t tell me  _ we couldn’t help it.  _ You could have had him testing the bludger farther from the window area. You could have done tests on ground. You could have had someone behind him acting keeper. Your underclassmen almost got his ribs crushed,  _ take some responsibility.”  _ Taeil snapped at them, a whirlpool of emotions amping up his voice. Donghyuck held his hand as if to calm him, but aside from stopping him from moving away, Taeil seemed just as angry if not more. 

 

“Listen, we’re sorry, but you know how quidditch is. It’s not a safe sport, and things like this happen. We’ll be more careful, but don’t act like it’s something unusual, there’s a reason Miss Kenko has been complaining about the placement of the wing for so long.” Taeyong retorted, frowning himself. He and Yuta stood tall together and even though Mark wanted to bow in apology, they stood in front of him like an unbreakable wall, blocking him.

 

Taeil scoffed. “What do I expect at this point really.. sorry that I thought you’d care. You made it very clear that you don’t care about your underclassmen this year. Rotten luck that I have to clean after your messes each time.” He muttered, fixing Donghyuck’s blanket in a way much too sharp for him to be only caring for the younger kid. Taeyong flinched at the remark so visibly Mark got shocked. Since when Taeyong is like that? 

 

Yuta then marched up to him, just as mad as Taeil was. “I’d suggest you’d keep your bullshit to yourself because I’m  _ tired _ of having a pity party with you every single day.  _ Poor you,  _ didn’t have friends growing up, because you are so  _ unique  _ being a half merman. I don’t blame  _ any  _ of those mermaids or bullies for hating your ass. Maybe if you weren’t so bitter and petty people could actually stand having you in the room.” He growled at him, his head so close to Taeil it looked like he’s about to give a headbutt. 

 

Almost immediately there was a response, but it wasn’t what Mark expected. Maybe he should’ve after what Yuta said, but Taeil’s hair turned a shade darker, but almost green - it looked like seaweed, and his grew to this weird shade of yellow. Alerted and taken aback, Yuta stepped backwards as Johnny stepped forward between them, frowning at Yuta before turning to Taeil. 

 

Johnny put his hand on Taeil’s shoulder, his lip corners fallen downwards apologetically. “I’m sorry, Taeil, we will leave now. I promise we will take better care of everything, okay? Thank you for taking care of Donghyuck so well. One of his friends is like cousin to me, I’ll let him know he’s in good hands.” He said, giving a Donghyuck a brief smile as well before turning to his team.

 

He forced the appalled Yuta outside, the latter stumbling as Johnny dragged him across the room. Taeyong followed suit, telling Mark to bring the bludger with him as he gets out. Frozen in his place, Mark felt out of place in the scene now beyond him. A sad Donghyuck was swirling his thumb on Taeil’s palm as the other relaxed and slowly returned to look normal.

 

It took a long time for him to say anything, but finally Taeil swallowed and opened his mouth.

 

“If you will excuse me…” Taeil’s voice wavered, leaving the room as soon as the loudness of the 127 boys seemed to have gone far away. Mark wondered if he should apologize, but Donghyuck wordlessly let go of the elder's hand. It was probably for the better, to not get involved.

 

The door slammed as it was shut, and now Donghyuck and Mark were alone in the room. Mark looked at the bludger to the side of Donghyuck’s bed, thinking about taking it quickly and running away, because  _ heck,  _ he wanted to do that since Miss Kenko let out her first shriek.

 

“Are you having fun, on the team?” Donghyuck suddenly asked, looking at Mark seriously, as if the question’s answer had grave consequences. 

 

“Uhm, yeah. Quidditch is really out of this world.” He answered, albeit awkwardly.

 

“That’s good. Sungie would’ve have loved that spot… He really wanted it. I’m glad it didn’t go to someone that didn’t even like the sport.” Donghyuck heaved, his hand clutching his back in pain. Mark felt bad on two accounts now, maybe even three, considering the Jeno situation. It’s already been three strikes, maybe he’s really ought to talk now.

 

“I didn’t mean to-” he started only to be interrupted.

 

“No one is blaming you for having the spot. You are annoying as hell because you are so good at everything without even researching them and because your magic always comes out strong even without a ton of practice… but you are not to blame on that one. Even Jisungie knows that, although it is hard for him.” Donghyuck didn't bother to sugarcoat anything, but Mark was surprised at his words. He thought Donghyuck was a backhanded compliments kind of guy until now, but those were more of backhanded insults. He complimented him and admitted he’s not to blame.

 

That’s kind of a win. Even though he really didn’t think he was as good at stuff as Donghyuck made it seem like.

 

“You still almost accidentally broke my ribs today.” Donghyuck pointed out matter of factly, and Mark winced in embarrassment. Yeah, that was his fault, definitely.

 

“I swear I’ll help you with that!” He spluttered, trying to think of ways to make it better.

 

“How?” Donghyuck challenged rather than asked, and Mark grew red, trying to think of ways he could actually help Donghyuck. Looking through his mind for an option, he brought up the first thing he knew.

 

“Umm, there’s this cherry we got at the start of the year, they told me it heals anything? I’ll give you mine.” He tried, his red face turning back into the shade of his skin again after he said it. Pretty satisfied with his answer, he just nodded to himself. 

 

“...Are you confessing to me after you almost broke my ribs? I only agree to be a heartbreaker from thirteen and onwards, thanks.” Donghyuck answered, his nose scrunching up in what Mark assumed was bewilderment. And well, Mark was also bewildered? Where in that sentence did he hear a confession?!

 

“Uhm. _ What?”  _ Mark emphasized, and Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

 

“Idiot, giving the cherry is like giving a Valentine love letters in Mahoutokoro! If you give it someone it’s considered a confession of love!” He explained, as over the top as he could in his state. Mark grew three shades redder than he was before. 

 

“Okay, no, not that. Forget that. Uhm, please.” Mark said, trying his best not bring his hands up and hide his face within them.  _ And I was so proud of that answer… _

 

“Guess you just have to be the first heartbreaker too.” He snickered, and Mark frowned at him. If he wasn’t already bedridden for the time being, they would probably have had some mock fight with all this teasing, but it was still probably the most pleasant interaction he had with Donghyuck throughout the entire year, so he guessed he didn’t  _ really  _ care. “I think I'll survive, still.” Donghyuck added with a smile. 

 

“I’m sorry about what happened with your friend now. I really don’t know why Yuta hyung acted like that.” he apologized quickly, both because he felt bad and the fact he wanted to change the topic. He really had no idea what was going on earlier, and because they only came because of the bludger he didn’t hit correctly, Mark felt a bit angry.

 

“Not your fault either. I would’ve have talked myself but Taeil hyung told me not to meddle when it comes to this stuff. He’s just very sensitive about it… it will be okay. At least Johnny hyung was there to settle it. It was nice of him to try calm Illie hyung like that.” Donghyuck said, the sadness about what happened still a bit apparent on his face, but it seemed like to some degree, he just accepted it was there.

 

Mark went next to Donghyuck, sitting where Taeil sat before. “How do you know Johnny hyung? He doesn’t really talk with a lot of underclassmen.” Mark asked, thinking it might be a better topic. Maybe Donghyuck will feel more comfortable with it. 

 

“Jaemin and Johnny hyung know each other through their relatives. Jaemin’s sister and Johnny’s aunt are close friends and they always met each other when they were younger. Sometimes he talks to Jaemin at the hall and stuff, and Jaemin tells us when he comes over. He always says how cool he is. I like Johnny hyung, he seems nice.” Donghyuck explained. Mark nodded his head in understanding, but something else bothered him now. He wondered if Donghyuck would have an answer for him.

 

“Hey, uhm. About Jeno…” Donghyuck looked at him as if he was waiting for that talk all along. “People told me that he went after Jaemin in the end. Can you tell me what happened? I still don’t know why he didn’t tell me about...  _ it _ and told you.. This whole thing just doesn’t make sense. I really want him back to talk to him, but…” He couldn’t bring himself to say Jeno might not be returning. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he did hope his friend didn’t lose all hope in him.

 

“Jeno didn’t tell me anything. Earlier this year when you and him came to the school Jaemin accidentally discovered Jeno was a half-vampire. He saw some before so he could tell Jeno was one. Jaemin told me and Jisung because he felt bad Jeno ran away from him when he realized. I guess he told him not to tell and all of that, so he ran up to him and yelled and all of that. I only got hit because I tried to stand in the middle - Jeno tried to weasel his way to Jaemin and pushed me too hard, so I flew to the wall. Never stand between a vampire and his victim, I swear it looked like his hand was shoving me away with barely any force and then I against the wall in seconds.” His face wrinkled at the thought of what happened. Mark could only shiver as he thought of the pain Donghyuck felt.

 

“You really shouldn’t call his heritage ‘it’ or ‘that’, by the way. It’s really rude and kind of mean, seeing how scared he was to tell you anyway.” Donghyuck added, his eyes wielding that judgemental glint Mark has known oh so well from him. 

 

But with the way he explained it, Mark could actually understand why he said that.

 

“Sorry. It’s just that he didn’t even tell me, it feels unreal. It was kept like such a big secret, now that I look back I could think of signs… I don’t even know if he’d like me to talk about it. If he’d feel okay with it. If it frightened him that much...” Mark replied, really thinking about it all. Jeno wouldn’t want the whole school to gossip about him. Even if the school does, Mark doesn’t want to be a part of it.

 

“I don’t know why you are apologizing to me, you need to talk with him. Might save a few backs on the way if you do. But seriously, just don’t be a douche about it. If you ever read about vampires, you could see their reputation is bad in the wizarding world. I don’t think he lied about being called vile.” Donghyuck warned, and Mark frowned. Jeno didn’t deserve being called that. But how could he say that in this circumstance? Jeno didn’t want to return!

 

“I don’t know how. Jeno doesn’t want to go back, I think. He lives somewhere in Incheon, and I have no idea where exactly. Even if I knew, I don’t know how will I get there.” He said worriedly. Mark didn’t have the option to get the floo powder system at his age, at least when he was alone. He can’t bother Minseok or Yunho for it, as he barely has time to meet them at all after a school day.

Donghyuck’s lips pressed against each other as he thought. 

 

“Well, I think I know someone who might be able to get his address and go to his house.” Donghyuck said almost evilly, grinning ear to ear as he thought about it. Mark tilted his head sideways, surprised and curious alike.

 

“Who?”

 

“The one who created all this mess, of course - Na Jaemin.”

 

- 

 

Sicheng was bored out of his mind. 

 

His sister’s classes were usually amazing, consisting of flying, taming and playing with dragons, giving the students chances to run around with them, learn their ways and actually  _ connect _ with the dragons. This class..  _ this thing,  _ was certainly not the taming classes he had received in the academy. 

 

It was filled with unnecessary safety rules, had them barely ever touching the dragons, and they only started the classes a month after because parents had to sign a consent form that their kids will be able to participate. If Sicheng has to hear one more person saying they’re scared ‘overgrown lizard’ he might punch someone in the face. Not to mention that the dragons they were practicing on were already tamed dragons, and it drove him up the wall.

 

Fifth year in Lóng Fèng already had you take care of a baby dragon on your own, all those scaredy cats were literally ruining the class!

 

The worst thing was that he could tell Qian was still trying her best to give out the lesson in a compelling way. The three Chinese Fireballs behind her were all apart of those she tamed and trained herself. Qian had a ‘herd’ of thirty four Chinese Fireballs she trained since she was young, and thirty one stayed on school grounds. She brought the three most docile ones,  Wěn, Dùpí, and Chì. Chì was the only female of the three, and she was the third dragon Qian tamed.

 

She was absolutely massive, towering over the two younger males by just lifting her neck, but she was by far the most obedient one. Qian specifically brought her because of how well she listens to humans, and in fact, in Sicheng’s opinion, she was much more humane than half of the people they knew.

 

It bothered him so much seeing those foreigners looking at Chì like she was monster. They were all huddled up together, stepping back every time the dragon brought down her face. She just wanted a pet on her snout, but they saw teeth and decided that she was going to eat them. It upsetted him so much, because he could hear her sad whines as she was constantly rejected by the new faces she saw.  

 

He wished Renjun was here, but he was too young to participate according to Mahoutokoro. Renjun would have been so nice to her. His new adopted brother had an instant connection to their dragons, and although he was scarred in the past by magical creatures, he had never let it affect his connection with the dragons. He acknowledged the rare chance and took it, unlike these bumbling idiots. 

 

_ If they were in Wenzhou, they would died in their first encounter with a dragon. _

 

“You need to cut them some slack, Chengcheng.. Not everyone lives near magical creature habitats. Most people don’t, actually.” Kun chuckled, but Sicheng glared. Kun had the tendency to use Legilimency whenever people grew quiet, and for the most part Sicheng didn’t care if he read his mind or not, because if he did, Sicheng could also convey a proper image in his mind of what he would do to Kun if talks about those things. But he really did not like him answering his thoughts aloud. His thoughts are his to think about! He’s only allowed to be bitter in his mind, he doesn’t want it forced out!

 

“Chengcheng, you know I love you, right? It’s because I care. You seemed upset.” Kun answered to his thoughts again, but this time Sicheng flushed red. Kun and Sicheng had known each other for quite a while, ever since their first year at Lóng Fèng when they were ten years old, but they didn’t know each other very well until quite some time later. When Sicheng grew closer to Renjun, he also grew closer to Chenle, and eventually Chenle’s cousin, who was Kun. 

 

After talking more, Sicheng suddenly realized he was quite different from what he thought. Despite thinking he was a pureblood at first, through the connection with the Zhongs, Kun was revealed to be a half blood as well. He was always fiercely protective of his younger cousin, which was very admirable in Sicheng’s eyes. Chenle had many attempts on his life since he was a baby. Kun was barely four years older and always stood beside his cousin. He even learned Legilimency in order to protect him, no matter how dangerous it was. 

 

It wasn’t a fair comparison because in reality, Kun had a lot more at stake, but it reminded Sicheng how Qian was with her dragons. Getting burnt by them because that’s how they lived life, learning how to deal with them in new ways that will make them feel secure and at home. Because in the end the love and bond they had was more important than those. 

 

So when time passed and they got to know each other, when Kun proved him he was not scared of the wilderness of Wenzhou even when he had a perfect fairytale house back in Fujian, when he showed he wasn’t only loyal and unwavering but also accepting and goofy, admiration came down to heart flutters and feelings blossomed stealthily. It didn’t take long for Kun to figure out, Legilimency or not. 

 

One day Sicheng stared at his hand, maybe for a bit too long. The day after, Kun took his hand in his, telling him he liked him. It was strange calling him his boyfriend, as he spent much too long only thinking about it… but it also made him happy seeing Kun using the word proudly. It was insane to believe it was only a few months ago.

 

“You’re really cute.” Kun commented, and Sicheng frowned at him, giving him a weak shove. Sicheng really couldn’t handle all the lovey dovey stuff most of the time, especially in front of other people. They never did anything more than hand holding, but his feelings really kept him on his toes. He couldn’t bear show that vulnerability in public. It will seriously ruin all of the intimidating image he built for Chenle related purposes.

 

Kun brought his hand closer to Sicheng that moment, his fingers lightly hovering above his before intertwining them. He didn’t say a word this time. Probably because Qian started staring at the two of them, her lips in a sour line. She liked Kun a lot, but it didn’t mean that she liked having her brother distracted in class. 

 

“She says we will make others think it’s okay to not listen to the class.” Kun translated her look, trying to hold off his smile from spreading to far on his face. Sicheng gave his sister a deadpan stare before mouthing  _ your class is boring  _ in the most emphasised, over the top way possible. Qian, still frowning, seemed to have taken offense from that.

 

“Okay then, now, let’s examine how hot a dragon’s fire can truly be. Dùpí, sweetie, if you don’t mind, get the hottest flare you can conjure out.” The dragon puffed up it’s belly, fitting of its name, and the air around them was attacked by something that you can only call hellfire. 

 

The amount of screaming students that tried to get past him and Kun kind of ruined their moment, making their hands separate. but Sicheng could only remain blank as the heat brushed his face.  _ Those idiots really don’t get that Dùpí aimed way too high to hurt any of them…  _ He wanted to facepalm, but it was his sister’s fault too. You really can’t introduce the topic like that.

 

“That’s what happens when you aren’t attentive at class.” He said as he rolled his eyes.

 

“Well, I guess I’ll get some burn potions. There are other things that I’d like to be attentive to.” He said, and took Sicheng’s hand in his once again.

 

-

 

two days have passed since his talk with Donghyuck. Donghyuck had told him ahead of time that it would be probably hard to catch Jaemin, knowing that he will be constantly with Jisung, and Jisung will be avoiding him like his life depended on it. 

 

And it was hard to catch Jaemin because of that. Jisung had been dragging him all over Mahoutokoro as if the boy couldn’t walk by himself. It seemed like there was more of a problem with Jaemin himself rather than with Jisung, considering Jaemin was walking so slumped he looked like he was trying to hide his own face. All of the time.

 

They avoided most people, and unless they came up to a person specifically, the two stayed inseparable as a duo. 

 

On the third day Donghyuck was finally back on his feet, and Mark never thought he would be so glad to see the fellow muggleborn. He didn’t know what kind of magic Donghyuck knew, but the red tint that his robe held was completely justified. The guy was a genius. He brought the crutches that the school provided him and held them up at lunch for long enough that they couldn’t escape him. He could tell it was for him because Donghyuck winked at him as he entered the great hall, for two split seconds even showing him from afar that he can actually walk on his own. 

 

“Hyuckie, Miss Kenko said that you can walk fine without the crutches! Can we please just go?” Jisung said, obviously annoyed at the over the top performance Donghyuck provided. They were on the hallway that led to the boys bathroom, which was pretty empty due to the boys swarming the courtyard at recess. Jaemin and Jisung sighed simultaneously at the sight of Donghyuck moving only one step a minute. 

 

“Miss Kenko also told me the crutches will help my lower half heal faster and I’m not willing to sit out when we will have our Niffler Chase exam!” He answered sharply, standing in his place dramatically for a few good seconds just to annoy them further.  

 

Mark would have laughed, but Donghyuck could flip any second. If he wastes any moment, Donghyuck might just trash the crutches and go on his way. He certainly did not want that. He ran a few steps to catch up to them, 

 

“Hey, uhm, Jaemin?” Mark called out, and he could see Jaemin’s eyes shaking, wondering where to go. Jisung wore an annoyed expression, looking at the ground and shifting his weight between his feet. “Can we talk?” He asks as nicely as he can. Donghyuck deadpanned, but he really couldn’t get himself to be more daring with this. He was a bit scared of confrontation himself.

 

“He isn’t feeling well…” Jisung mumbled, and Donghyuck gave him a pointed look.

 

“My spine isn’t feeling all that good either and you are still trying to make me walk without the crutches.” He pouted and Jisung’s eyebrows furrowed.

 

“If you actually needed them maybe I would have cared.” He replied, more and more irritated as minutes passed by. They began a staring contest between themselves, but it seemed to be more about who has the better glare than who looks away first. They were deep into their own nonexistent fight when Jaemin begrudgingly looked up at Mark, knowing that his friend will be too occupied with each other.

 

“What is it?” He asked tiredly, out of obligation. Mark had the feeling Jaemin had a good idea of what they were going to talk about.

 

“About Jeno… I know more or less what happened. I didn’t understand what was happening then, so I was upset, about not being told he’s a half-vampire and all. But I think I accidentally really hurt him… can you please help me?” Mark’s request could be considered a bit vague, but he thought that if he wasn’t all that straightforward about blame, he might manage to convince Jaemin easily. He hoped he will manage that at all, really, but if things went smoothly it would be better.

 

“You told him,  _ didn’t you?”  _ Jisung accused Donghyuck, who only lifted his forearms innocently as his crutches fell to the ground, clearly unnecessary as he stood straight. “I told you it wasn’t the time to meddle, what the hell!” Jisung yelled, clutching his head and hair. He looked like he was ready to rip it all out. 

 

“What, so they can both stand there and stare at Jeno’s empty desk everyday? Look at him, he looks worse than me and I’ve been bedridden for three days!” He gestured at Jaemin, who seemed more confused at the sudden attacks than hurt.

 

“Ehm, ouch?” He slipped into the conversation, but both of the other boys ignored him.

 

“He’s already doing better than before! You can’t just go and tell the entire story to other people, he feels bad enough as it is!” Jisung yelled back at him, defending Jaemin in a way Mark had to say seemed… pitiful. 

 

“And who are you exactly to baby him like that? He needs to own up to his mistake!” Donghyuck countered, just as passionate as Jisung had been. Mark wondered if he strayed into a territory he shouldn’t have gotten to. Donghyuck did say he might as well try to corner Jaemin when they all prepare to go on the storm petrels, but Mark didn’t want to seem like a bully.

 

Jaemin grew bright red at the entire conversation, and Mark really couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment. It was probably both.

  
“Can I please understand  _ why  _ both of you are acting as if you are my parents? Can you please  _ stop?”  _  Jaemin raged at the two, who didn’t seem phased at all by this.

 

“If you stopped acting like a doormat and actually did something…” Donghyuck started, and Mark really wondered how he isn’t getting beat up at this point. He actually had to stop himself from snorting, he really didn’t expect this kind of reaction after all he did was ask for help. Donghyuck’s head then snapped at him, frowning. “Laugh at him and I swear to god I’ll beat you with these crutches!” He yelled, pointing at the crutches on the floor.

 

Mark lifted his hands in defence, stepping backwards. Yes, it’s better to not show any reaction to all of this.

 

“Stop it already. you know he’s sad about it anyway! Give him some space from all of that. He’ll have time to do things later!” Jisung argued, but Donghyuck shook his head. He chose to look at Jaemin now.

“Listen. I’m sorry about all of this, I know you are really sad about the situation… but I really want to see this over. You’ve been sulking about everything having to do with Jeno since the beginning of the year, and every day you came to visit me in the nurse’s wing you looked so sad.” Donghyuck looked honestly upset as he talked, his nasally voice not embellished with his high spirits as usual. Mark felt like he shouldn’t be here for this talk, but remained frozen.

 

“Mark came to the wing because of an accident, and we talked. I don’t like him all that much, you know that, but he wants his friend back and you want to make the situation better. You are going to be here feeling guilty forever and you know it, so I hoped maybe it could make things better if we all tried sorting it out together… You know?” He continued. Jisung let out a long sigh, looking at Jaemin as well.

 

Jaemin had many emotions running through his face, but it all came down to a defeated expression that made Mark feel hopeless only from looking at it. He couldn’t imagine how Jaemin was feeling if that’s what shone through. 

 

“But what am I supposed to do? I messed up so bad, he doesn’t even want to come back. How am I supposed to make everything better if I can’t even see him?” He sighed. Donghyuck was ready to talk again, but Mark really felt like it was his time to explain.

 

“Ehm, I talked to Donghyuck, like he said already… I want to go and talk to him, but I can’t. He lives somewhere in Incheon, I think one of the islands there. He never told me exactly, but both me and Donghyuck think that if we talk to the headmaster and admit all of this, we can get the address. I can’t go myself anyway, so we hoped… well, I hoped, that you might be able to. I can’t go by myself with magical transportation, and I won’t have anyone to take me with them. You are a pureblood, so maybe…” Mark stumbled with the words, but he got a decent amount of what he needed to say out. Jisung was biting his lips, but Donghyuck had a glimmer of hope in his eyes, so Mark let himself have one too.

 

“I… But would he even want to see me? I don’t even think he’d let me in… And even if I do, he probably really hates me. How would I convince him?” Jaemin worried out loud, his hand clutching his robes anxiously. 

 

“I don’t think entering will be a problem. I know that his brother, Donghae, really wanted him to learn here and finish school and make friends.. Jeno talked about those expectations all of the time. I’m sure he will let you in. And well… I thought about writing him a letter, that will show him I’m not mad or anything… and to apologize and all. If all of us write him one, it could help even more, actually…” Mark explained further, trying his best to show Jaemin that it will not be a waste of time. 

 

“I’m not sure if I… I don’t think I can…” Jaemin started, not finishing. He looked to the side, unsure. Donghyuck sighed himself this time, and Mark’s shoulders slumped.

 

“Nana.” Jisung called, making Jaemin lift his head. “I know what I said before, but… I think you’ll regret it, if you say no.” He admitted, not looking at either Mark or Donghyuck. “I don’t want this to become gossip and stuff… and it’ll probably the easiest solution if Mark writes him a letter. Maybe you can get him the address and that’s it, too, right?” He asked, looking at Donghyuck, questioning.

 

“He probably lives in a coven, it doesn’t work like that. They’ll have their own owl, but you need permission to send letters to covens. The magical ministry doesn’t allow it because they think vampires will encourage others to come over and turn them into vampires, or some other illegal things. I’ll have to go either way.” Jaemin answered instead. Mark had no idea about all of that. No wonder Jeno felt so scared to tell him! If that’s what the actual  _ ministry  _ thinks…

 

“Nana, I’m sorry I’m comparing, but if you feel bad, imagine how he feels right now.” Donghyuck pressed on, and Mark was almost moved by how much he tried to help. It might not have been for his sake, but the last three days certainly changed the way he thought about him.

 

“...Alright.” Jaemin surrendered to the pressure finally. “I’ll try to go to the headmaster after our last class.” 

 

Donghyuck smiled from ear to ear and ran into Jisung’s arms, lifting the smaller boy up. “Jisungie coming clutch once again! Good job Sungie!” He bubbled, moving him around as Jisung desperately tried to escape his hug. 

 

“Shut it, I only said it because it’ll help Nana!” Jisung hand pushed Donghyuck’s face away from him, but Donghyuck just gracefully moved his head away and made the nervous Jaemin join the hug as well. 

 

“You all better write letters and good ones!” Jaemin exclaimed as he was pushed to the middle of the hug. He was still jittery and anxious about it all, but Mark could tell he felt a little more secure with his friends happily surrounding him.

 

Mark awkwardly stood there, his smile wide but his feelings a bit all over the place. He could only stare at the happiness that occurred in front of him, and in the middle of it all, he realized. He wished he could be a part of it, too.

 

-

 

Jongdae didn’t expect a letter arriving at the doorstep to his home.

 

He had a few friends over, after a long time they couldn’t really make time for each other due to their jobs. He expected a nice, loud evening with them, where he could complain all he wants about how the world is crazy and how he literally couldn’t believe half of the kids he met through work didn’t turn into obscurus before they came in.

 

When there was a strange knock on his door, as if something a banging at the door. He wondered if the wine he drank made him hear things, or forget a guest, but no - all of them were here. Minseok, Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Chanyeol… yes, all of them were here. The rest couldn’t make it, unfortunately, but he set other meetups for that. 

 

“What, was someone else supposed to come?” Baekhyun asked from the velvet couch he sat upon, sharing the puzzled look with Jongdae. 

 

“No. The rest said they couldn’t.” Jongdae said, still stuck in his place. Maybe the wine did really did make him slow. He didn’t even come up from the couch yet.

 

“Then go to the door already! What if it’s Seungwan? She could come here for work stuff. Joohyun will kill me if she knew I was here and let you make her wait outside!” Junmyeon shuddered at the thought. Jongdae lifted himself up from the chair, but not before he gave Junmyeon a mildly disappointed look.

 

“I’m going, but the fact you are so scared of your own twin is lame, Myeon.” He said, leaving quickly to the door. He could hear Junmyeon protests, but ignored them. Junmyeon could ramble for hours about his complicated family, he shouldn’t give him the opportunity. 

 

Jongdae unlocked and opened the door. As he did that, his eyes caught a few marks that the front of his door didn’t have before. Jongdae gaped. “Some asshole ruined my door!” He yelled, and he could hear his friends’ footsteps as they came over to see what happened.

  
  


The four of them filled the hallway to his entrance, looking at the door. First of all, it was slightly clawed, scratch marks apparent on its dark brown wood. It also had a few carved out dents, that made Jongdae want to cry as his fingers brushed on the inside of them.  _ I can fix it, but who would try to scare me like that?! _

 

“There’s a letter on your doorstep, too.” Kyungsoo pointed out, his voice as monotone as ever. Jongdae looked down and saw that there was indeed a letter. Is this shit from those rebels against the ministry again? He thought all those threats ended years ago. Why did they choose his door? Yes, he’s a pureblood, but he worked and helped muggleborns and half-bloods on practically a daily basis.  _ I just finished enchanting this door too, fuck! _

 

“Whoever this is, he’s dead, what the hell!” He boomed, lifting up the letter from his stone step that led to his house. He immediately ripped the letter open, not caring what was written on the outside of it. The letter seemed like a normal letter. Nice handwriting, a bit long but not threatening. It didn’t explode or howl in his face, at the very least.

 

“Oh. Wait. That’s a letter from one of those kids I took care of…” He said, more confused than before. The  _ with love, Taeyong  _ was really throwing him off. Taeyong wouldn’t claw his door. Or make anything claw his door. Taeyong liked him. He probably liked Seungwan more, because she used to make him cookies, but Taeyong was like a kid to him.

 

“Damn, what did you do to the kid?” Chanyeol questioned. Honestly he wanted to know what he did too. He skimmed through the letter once again. 

 

_ P.S, Deomi didn’t really get any better with landing and stuff… I hope the letter reached you well. I think she was happy when I told her to bring it to you though!  _

 

“...This is what I get for buying the kid an owl on a discount.” He heaved, and groaned out loud. He knew that stupid bird couldn’t land to save its life, but he sure hoped that by now Taeyong taught it its limits! His poor door. He’ll have to do all the enchantments from the start now…

 

“Karma.” Kyungsoo said, snorting along with the rest of the group behind Jongdae. Groaning again, Jongdae shut the door and walked back with the letter to his living room, his friends following suit. 

 

“What did the kid want?” Minseok asked, interested. Most of the group were kind of trying to read the letter over his shoulder. It was kind of long, so he couldn’t blame them for being interested, but damn if they are not nosey. He read through to himself once and decided it wasn’t too personal to share with the others.

 

“Well, it’s one of the kid that stayed in contact with me and Seungwan. He comes to visit every year. He was kind of a legend back in the day, like we matched him up with a foster family and had talks and lessons about the magic world every week and when he was nine he suddenly got in the list for Mahoutokoro. Everyone were shocked. We were all so proud of him.” He explained, because at the very least Chanyeol and Junmyeon should know him since they were in the Ministry at the time.

 

“It’s that Taeyong kid? The handsome one?” Baekhyun blurted. Jongdae rolled his eyes. Baekhyun became an auror after Taeyong got assigned a foster family, so he could only see him a handful of times, but everyone agreed the kid was handsome. 

 

“Yes, that kid. He sends letters sometimes, but he usually addresses them to our office. He’s probably a bit depressed now, he seems really upset from the letter… I’d bet ten thousand won he sent Seungwan another letter that phrases all of this differently. He speaks to us differently in general.” He said, remembering all those times he and Seungwan got separate letters into the same mailbox.  _ He probably sent it here because the office doesn’t work today…. _

 

“You are still not explaining what did he want.” Kyungsoo noted. Jongdae pursued his lips in annoyance.

 

“I was getting there!” He huffed. “He’s in a quidditch team, one of the more successful ones, mind you. Apparently the school blocked him from recruiting  some second year, and he’s really sad about it.Saying the kid didn’t only deserve it but also expected it and Taeyong couldn’t tell him they weren’t allowed to recruit him. People are gossiping about it apparently… It came up again a few days ago and he’s really bothered by it.. basically, he’s asking for advice.” Jongdae finally concluded. 

 

“Wait, which team is it? Changmin’s brother sent me a letter telling me about being on a quidditch team.” Minseok interrupted, and Jongdae tried to remember.

 

“Their team is called 127. Don’t ask me, I don’t know why.” 

 

“It is Mark’s team! He got recruited this year. He told me his teammates are really nice. His last letter said that they were determining his position. I hope they treat him well, he’s a real sweet kid.” Minseok confirmed happily, clearly proud.

 

“It’s really amazing how you chose to work in a muggle company and somehow you still ended up having to deal with wizards.” Baekhyun commented. It was really a wonder - one day Minseok was completely content working in a muggle company, and the day after Jongdae just sees Minseok walking with some kid in the wizard markets, carrying his cauldrons and magic books as they navigated poorly through the streets. 

 

“Mark is a nice kid, so I didn’t mind. He was so happy when I introduced him to magic, it was so cute. Still, I nearly peed myself when Auror Jung suddenly popped out of nowhere and told me to prepare him to go to a Mahoutokoro.” He admitted, his hand above his heart as he recalled the memory.

 

“I’m surprised you didn’t. Yunho is really intimidating when he wants to.” Baekhyun said, shivering from the thought of the encounter. He shook his head and lifted his glass of wine drinking it at once. “I don’t want to think about these stuff right now. We have enough of that at work. Let’s do a cheers!” He exclaimed, taking the wine bottle a refilling everyone’s cups.

 

With that, the subject was thrown out of the window, and the letter from Taeyong was put aside for him to answer later. The rest of the night went by quickly, with some more jabs at Junmyeon being needlessly rich, or arguments about how Kyungsoo’s cooking was better than Seungwan’s baking or vice versa. They started leaving at 1am, Junmyeon and Kyungsoo going together with Baekhyun who was a bit too tipsy to walk straight, and Minseok rushing out quickly after he realized he had paperwork he didn’t finish for work.

 

Chanyeol was the last one who left, and Jongdae walked him to the door as they said their goodbyes. 

 

“Have a safe ride home, Yeol.” He said, giving the tall man a quick hug. Chanyeol nodded before turning to the door to leave. He opened it and stopped in his place.

 

“Hey, Jongdae?” He looked back at him once more.

 

“Yeah, man?” 

 

“Did the kid tell you if he knew why he wasn’t allowed to recruit that second year?” He asked, and Jongdae’s eyebrows rose up, taken aback by the question.

 

“Uh, yeah. Taeyong said the school half-assed a reason and said he had circumstances that didn’t allow it or something. He said it was really suspicious and he wants to investigate the reason. He felt it was really unfair.” Jongdae answered sincerely. He has nothing to hide from Chanyeol. It wouldn’t harm anyone.

 

“Tell him to leave it.” Chanyeol said, his already low voice even deeper than usual.

 

“Huh?” 

 

“It wouldn’t be good for him, to get involved.” Chanyeol added, before slipping on his shoes and leaving. 

 

Jongdae gulped. He didn’t know what was going on, but Chanyeol was a member of the magic council. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hoped this 10k mess was okay. I'm considering if I should tag EXO or at least the members, but I guess I'll see in the future, there will be other sm artists anyway so hm. idk. for any case, junmyeon is exo's suho, jongdae is chen, minseok is xiumin, joohyun and seungwan are red velvet's irene and wendy. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I hope you had a pleasant time reading this chapter <3


	7. A Friend Like Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's four in the morning but I was determined to finish this SO. I can't fricking believe I actually got to 12.5k.... like dude... 20 pages for a chapter eye... anyways i just really wanted to briefly mention - thanks for any of you reading the story, I know it's a bit of an untraditional fic in a lot of ways, and like?? I'm so grateful to all of you. really. So anyways enjoy the chapter <3

"Are you absolutely sure that this boy won’t harm you? Minnie, it’s a virtue to forgive, but those  _ marks  _ he gave you…” Yoona asked once again, fumbling with flap of her clutch bag. They were already on their way to Jeno’s home and she still tried to make him back out. Jaemin tried not to glare, knowing she is the only reason mother even allowed him to make the trip, but he couldn’t keep the frown he instantly wore in check.

 

“If he tried to harm me to begin with, I think I’d still be in school at the infirmary. And for the last time, _ I’m  _ the one who needs to say sorry.” Jaemin answered sharply, to Yoona’s dismay. Jaemin sighed, pressing the pouch he brought with him to his lap as the ferry to Muuido island was casted off of Incheon’s port. He felt the letters his friends wrote inside it, as well as one he wrote on his own. He minded his force as he did, not wanting the to be crumpled. After all, if Jeno will change his mind, it will probably be due to them. He hardly thinks that Jeno’s opinion of him will change.

 

_ It’s only a virtue to forgive. It’s not a must.  _ His mother’s voice resounded in his head. Those days in which she found herself telling such things were long gone, but Jaemin couldn’t help but feel ill at how fitting it was for his situation. 

 

The ferry’s propellers swished the water underneath it, and the sound of the water hitting the ocean’s surfer again and again was nerve wracking. They were accelerating towards Muuido island, and the only thing Jaemin could take comfort in was that it still wasn’t their final destination. His anxiety had him making up situations, each worse than the one before it. The letters would help, but knowing he would have to speak alone made him scared. 

 

People around him were talking and laughing. There were a bunch of noisy foreigners seated at the front of the ferry, and some other Korean couples that chatted the ride away, whispering about where and how they would spend their vacation in the island. Jaemin felt alone, that in such a bustling and romantic area he only came to meet someone who considered him unwelcomed. 

 

He talked with headmaster Miyamoto before he went. It took a day to receive the approval, as the elder said he shall ask Jeno’s brother if he was allowed to come, or even share the location of the coven. But just as Mark said, Jeno’s older brother seemed ecstatic at the idea, and through a letter told them that he’s more than willing to invite them to his house. Jaemin guessed he’s ought to feel grateful, as didn’t think he was really deserving of the invitation, but the pressure to bring Jeno back together with his hope he’ll be forgiven had kept him too occupied to count his blessings.

 

His sister stared at him worriedly. He thought he should probably say something to comfort her, but didn’t find in himself the power too. His head hurt at it sides, and every few minutes he found himself massaging his temples. He really had to conserve the little power he had to himself. Yoona, still trying to find ways to console him, took his hand in hers and gave it a long squeeze. He appreciated the thought, even if it didn’t help all that much.

 

A short while after, they had finally reached the shore of Muuido island. Jeno lived on the neighbouring island, which uninhabited by muggles. The island’s name was Silmido, and consisted mostly of forested hills, lined with a beautiful shore with a nice view of the ocean. Twice a day there was an ebb tide, which let you walk from Muuido’s shore to Silmido’s. Jeno’s brother wrote them the exact hours the sea level would be low, so they had come prepared. 

 

Jaemin took off his shoes as he walked through the road revealed to him in the water. The damp sand stuck to his feet, and although it was a relaxing feeling when his legs sank into the ground, he remembered he had to ignore it move forward. At the very least, some tension left him when he couldn’t help but laugh at his sister, who almost fell backwards and her own heels sank into the muddy sand.

 

The grassy hills of Silmido were now clear in sight, and Jaemin remembered what the letter he received told him.  _ Go to the inner forest - there would be a piece of a broken brick fence. Knock on it four times and you are done.  _ The way it was written was awfully final, with no further explanation about the place, but Jaemin tried to believe that since Jeno was decent enough of a person, so was his brother. 

 

_ Worst case scenario… Yoona did bring a portkey for us use.  _

 

Jaemin shook his head. He promised himself he wouldn’t think like that. He knew that’s why Jeno was scared people will know.  _ We won’t need the portkey, until we’ll have to go home.  _ Jaemin swore to himself.  _ If there will be any worst case scenario… it will be us getting kicked out of their home. _

 

Yoona huffed in frustration as took of her heels and started walking by foot. She did some spell Jaemin wasn’t taught yet, neither did he care to know about to make her mess of heels into sandals as they approached the more hill-like area. The sun was scorching against his sweating forehead, and he wondered if he should’ve come here with shorts instead of trousers. 

 

It was a literal uphill fight when they had left the beach of the island and entered the more forested area. The entire island was crooked, ground going up and down and determinedly refusing to be consistent. This place was made for those who had strength and will power, and Jaemin had neither of those at the moment. He never felt as conflicted as now, when he suddenly recognized the broken brick fence he was told of. 

 

_ This is it…  _ He thought to himself, standing quietly in front of it. He was still a bit scared at the idea of meeting Jeno, but he already came all this way. He held his fisted hand towards it, but couldn’t quite bring himself to just knock, finding himself staring at the bricky mess as if he inanimate himself. 

 

“Should I do it?” Yoona asked, snapping him out of his trance. His sense of obligation spiked, and he blocked her way from getting close to it. 

 

“No, I’ll do it.” He answered quickly, his hand finally lowering onto the brick fence and knocking on it.  _ One. Two. Three. _

 

_ Four.  _

 

He slowly backed away as he gave that final knock. For a few seconds that seemed like forever, Jaemin thought he might have been dreading all this day for nothing, as nothing happened. But just as expected, it was only a matter of time. The broken brick fence suddenly expanded, sprouting more bricks on bricks from its sides and top. They stacked up so quickly Jaemin could have barely followed, one by one they multiplied more and more until the formed a house just a crooked as the land around it, with an uneven roof and bricks that stuck out from it sides. A door made of reddish wood was formed in front of them, with only one brick step leading to it.

 

Jaemin and Yoona exchanged looks. She came closer to him, putting her hand on his shoulder as they went up to the door. After his act of measly bravery Jaemin was more than willing to let Yoona knock on the red door. He felt butterflies in his stomach, but they seemed to want him to hurl right at that doorstep. He swallowed stressfully, knowing that it was the last thing he should let happen.

 

The door opened in seconds, and Yoona’s squeezed her hand on Jaemin’s shoulder. He didn’t think she knew how he was feeling, but the two siblings stood in solidarity together. 

 

“Hello?” a man called as he opened the door. Jeno’s brother was just as he remembered him. He looked like a middle-aged Jeno with just a few features differing them. They had a similar jaw and had the same skin color, similar lips and a close enough nose. The man in front of them smiled as he saw them.

 

_ There was the difference _ . The fact he smiled at him at all was a differing point, but Jaemin thought of how Jeno’s eyes were moon crescents when he was happy, and how the man in front of them held no star to his eyes. 

 

“Oh wait, you are that kid! The kid from the headmaster’s office back then! I wasn’t even sure if you were going to come…” He said, and looked to his sides, as if making sure no one was around. He stepped closer to them. “It is nice to see you again. You too miss Na.” He asked in a hushed tone, looking at Yoona, who bowed her head slightly with a polite smile.

 

“Come in, come in. The house is not in the best condition, I’ll admit, but I did my best to make most of others not be here today. I know most wizards are pretty partial about being in a house full of vampires, even if admittedly, most of us are just halfies.” He tried reassuring them. Jaemin felt the opposite. If the house was full of people, maybe he’d feel more comfortable. But regardless, no matter how cold people thought vampires were, the house looked incredibly homely in its messiness. You could tell people lived here, for there was not a speck of dust, but there were clothes and stationary items scattered around.

 

“Oh no, sir, you shouldn’t have… my brother came here because it was important for him to apologize, we should be thankful you let us come at all.” Yoona bowed a little deeper this time, probably feeling guilty over the matter. Jaemin inhaled deeply as he held his pouch once again.  _ It’ll be okay.  _ “Still, how did your brother take it when you told him Jaemin is coming? We should probably know what to expect…” Yoona asked, and Jaemin’s heart sank. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the answer to that question.

 

“Oh, uhm… You see..” Donghae chuckled dryly, scratching the back of his head. “I hadn’t really told him.” He admitted. Yoona’s eyes widened in shock, but Jaemin was almost relieved. Donghae probably felt the tension in the air, as he decided to continue. “You need to understand, Jeno is… skittish, to say the least. That day a week ago he was so frightened that I couldn’t find it in myself to bring up the topic. But… I promise you, Jeno is a nice kid, and he spent most of his time now regretting things rather than being mad.” He explained. Jaemin bit his lip. Yoona’s eyes returned to their normal size, and nodded her head.

 

“At the very least, our siblings had been spending their recent time similarly.” She answered, and Jaemin felt a surge of annoyance of how he she spoke as if he wasn’t in the room, even if she wasn’t exactly wrong. Although even if she was, it wasn’t like he could say otherwise when Jeno’s brother was right in front of them. 

 

“Well, I just hope this will help smooth things over.. I do believe you it wasn’t your intention to hurt my brother, but he has had a hard time with his heritage for a long time now.” He said sadly. “Particularly after our father’s death.” He added, his voice quieter this time. He coughed a little before he spoke again. “The point is, he’s sensitive. Doesn’t really believe anyone will accept him. Living in a uninhabited island doesn’t do much for that, either, but we only have so many choices for possible covens placements.”

 

Jaemin nodded at him shamefully. He never really knew his own father, but he had seen his mother and sister coping with the loss. Jaemin’s father died due to hate, and if Jaemin’s assumption was correct, hate was the reason Jeno lost his father too. “I’m sorry for your loss, sir.” He said sincerely.   
  
Donghae sighed, but lifted his hand to ruffle Jaemin’s hair. 

 

“It’s been a long time already. At this point, I just hope scars will start to heal. I have to thank you for being here and hopefully helping that too.” He comforted, and Jaemin spared a tiny smile at the man. “I’ll take you to Jeno now. Again, he doesn’t know, but should there be a problem, I am here.” He said, and lead them to a staircase. 

 

His legs felt heavy as he went up the stairs, but being in the middle between Donghae and Yoona didn’t give him time to be slow. They were led through a corridor to the last door of the second floor, Jeno’s name carved on it in Chinese characters. Donghae gave three knocks on the door before talking.

 

“Jeno, I’m entering the room.” No room for a no, or not yet, or whatever. Donghae opened the door quickly to reveal small room with mostly necessities, seemingly barren of anything else. The most notable thing about the room was that it was colored a faded lilac blue, friendlier than you’d expect. Jeno was sitting on the floor with three… cats? He was facing the window, not looking at the opened door. “Damn it, Jeno, what did I say about the cats?! You are allergic! You can’t keep all three of them in your room together, no wonder your nose is barely working!” 

 

“They’re half kneazles! I’m not completely allergic. Bongsik wanted to play with his toy, and Seol and Nal joined, so...” He said, lifting himself up. He was holding a tabby cat (or more correctly, half cat?) in his arms as he turned around. He stopped in his tracks as he realized there were more people outside. His eyes spotted Jaemin, and if the cat didn’t jump away from his hands, he would’ve probably dropped it.  _ “...Why are they here?”  _  He questioned frantically, backing away further to the desk behind him as he did.

 

“This is what I mean by your nose is not working. If it was, you would have smelled them the minute they entered the house. He’s here to talk.” Donghae said, his hands crossed across his chest, as he gestured to Jaemin with his head. Jeno’s eyes couldn’t decided on what to settle. It took him a long time until he finally managed to look at his brother again.

 

“I don’t want to, hyung.” He tried weakly. Jaemin bit his lips hard as he heard that. It wasn’t even directed at Jaemin, it didn’t even sound like he tried to insult him. He just sounded meek and desperate. 

 

“If you’d have your way, you’ll be stuck here living your life as a crazy cat man until you die of old age. I know what you want, but it’s time for you’d start dealing with what life dishes out at you.” Donghae reprimanded, sounding about as mean as they come.

 

“But hyung-”

 

_ “That’s final!”  _ Donghae yelled. Jeno flinched, looking at the floor. Admittedly, both him and Yoona nearly jumped from the yell. “Jaemin, come in. If there’s any problem here, call me, I’ll hear you. Jeno, I expect a little bit of understanding from you.” He said, his gaze hardened and even a bit scary, but it might be because of the obvious fangs Jaemin just noticed. He quickly stepped inside the room, standing at the edge nervously, not knowing which of the brothers should he be more worried about.

 

“...Can the cats stay here?” Jeno asked quietly, breathing slowly as he took one of the cats off the desk it has climbed on top, putting it on the floor next to his feet.

 

Donghae sighed. “Yes, they can. Just keep them in check as well.” He agreed, and Jeno nodded slightly. “I’ll leave you to yourselves.” He said, getting out of the room and closing the door behind them. Jaemin could see Yoona with a fisted hand up and a smile, trying to encourage him, but the door closed too quickly to relish in it.

 

There was a pregnant silence in the room. Jeno didn’t utter a word, and Jaemin stood awkwardly just looking at him doing everything he can to keep his eyes on the cats. Jaemin promised himself and the rest he will be brave. At this point, he had gotten halfway through the ordeal. If he doesn’t finish with this, he’ll never be able to forgive himself.

 

“Hey.” He said, fiddling with his fingers as he did. 

 

Jeno barely lifted his eyes, his expression still as sour as can be. 

 

“Save it.” He said coldly. Jaemin gulped.

 

“No, Jeno, please listen-” Jaemin tried again, and this time Jeno did look at him.

 

_ “I said save it.”  _  He basically growled, making some of his cats jump further away from him. 

 

Another silence. Jaemin inhaled and exhaled, knowing that he should have expected a reaction like this, especially considered Jeno had no idea he was coming. Jaemin tried something else. He threw the pouch he brought with him towards Jeno. 

 

“What are you doing?” Jeno glared at him as the pouch hit the ground beside him. 

 

“The pouch has some letters in it, for you. Mark wrote one of them. He wanted to talk to you, but he had no way to come. You know why.” Jaemin said quietly, and Jeno stared at him as if he was trying to gauge if he was lying. After a few seconds and no change in Jaemin’s demeanor, Jeno gave up his apathetic act and looked into the pouch.

 

He went through the four letters and ripped the one that had Mark’s name on it open. He was focused as he read, going through the words slowly. His face softened as he did so - whatever Mark has written seemed to have an impact. Jeno’s expression was unreadable, staying consistently in the middle of a smile and frown. Finally settling on a calmer demeanor he looked up at Jaemin.

 

“...Thanks.” He said quietly. It wasn’t exactly forgiving, but at the very least, Jeno seemed less hostile.

 

“I’m sorry, Jeno.” Jaemin apologized, bowing full ninety degrees. He felt like he owed it to him, after he had to bow himself so low in apology back at the headmaster’s office. “I didn’t mean to tell on you after you told me not to. I… after the first time we met, I kind of figured you were a half-vampire and it just spilled to my friends already. I’m really, really sorry.” He further explained, remaining in the same bow. Jaemin couldn’t bring himself to even think of moving back up until Jeno would speak.

 

He felt examined for a while. There was no response, so he continued to speak. “And I don’t have a problem with it, either. I always thought you seemed really nice. I’m sorry.” He repeated his apology, but once again felt like it wasn’t enough. “Please come back to school. We want you there.” He softly added, not knowing if Jeno would even care for the idea that he wanted him back in school.

 

“...you’ll hurt your back, just stand.” Jeno said uncomfortably. Jaemin did as he said, trying to not think about how ironic was that statement. Jeno was now the one fiddling his fingers. Jeno had his nose scrunched up slightly, his lips pressed together in thought. 

 

“Will you come back?” He asked this time. He didn’t really have a place to make demands, but that wouldn’t stop him from asking questions. Jeno didn’t seem too upset any longer, and Jaemin figured he probably owed a lot of it to Mark rather than his own apology, but he would deal with that later.

 

“I don’t know.” Jeno answered, one of his cats now rubbing against his feet. Jeno said they’re all half-kneazles, so they were probably a bit smarter than the average feline. It wouldn’t be surprising if that one was trying to comfort Jeno. 

 

“Why?”Jaemin asked, sincerely wanting to know. Mark wouldn’t avoid him, Jaemin wouldn’t bother him if he didn’t want him around. He and the rest really tried to make up for everything, even Sungie that had absolutely nothing to do with it. What reason does he have to say no?

 

“I’ve already been there for a while, and… I told you that already, back at the races, but I still can barely ride a broom. A lot of the times my wand doesn’t really do what I want it to. Even when nobody knew about me being a half-vampire, getting through classes was really hard. People are already laughing at me, so now that people know I am a halfie… I don’t want to imagine it.” He admitted, sitting back on the floor to pet the cat that nuzzled against him.

 

Jaemin followed suit in sitting, and a determined spirit suddenly rose within him. “I promise you that if anyone will try to talk badly about you they will be regretting it. Donghyuck almost slapped me when I told him about our first meeting. Mark has an entire quidditch team he could rope into scaring people. We’ll be an avengers squad of our own.” He tried cheering him up with excited words. his limbs moving to reach out for Jeno’s shoulder, before realizing he probably shouldn’t be acting all touchy no matter how friendly he wanted to seem.  Jeno smiled sadly.

 

“It doesn’t change the fact that I just can’t keep up with the lessons.” Jeno said honestly. “If it was only about my heritage, I think I would have a hard time, but I could still survive… My brother expects a lot from me, he wants me to finish school with great marks and have a social circle that any other vampire wouldn’t be able to dream of… ever since I got the letter to Mahoutokoro, it’s all been expectations. All of my coven expects the best from me, and I just… I fail in everything.” He said, holding onto his cat a bit closer.

 

Jaemin didn’t particularly know what to say. He wasn’t really qualified with that stuff. He had more questions than answers.

 

“Why are they like that?” He decided to ask. He didn’t want to assume all on his own.

 

“Because they weren’t allowed in wizarding schools at the time. That’s what they tell me, at least.”    
  
Jaemin gave a small  _ ‘ah’.  _ He thinks he read about it, in their History of Magic class. He remembered feeling uncomfortable reading the passage about vampires. It was terribly dismissive of how wrong the segregation between them and wizard-kind was. He could still remember the words, and Jeno’s sour face as he read them.

 

_ ‘Only in recent years, with strong support from The Society for the Tolerance of Vampires, were rules changed and the beings were allowed to integrate within schools and jobs in the Wizarding community. That change is still frowned upon by many wizards and witches. Regardless, they are still studied in schools under topics concerning the Dark Arts, as their parasitic nature keeps them under the classification of a Dark being.’  _

 

Jaemin shook his head to make the thought disappear. He should try to help Jeno now, instead of lamenting about why he’s sad. 

 

“I think that you should tell the headmaster about it. You were chosen to go to Mahoutokoro, so they have to have seen some talent within you. It doesn’t make sense that it’s like this. Brooms can be annoying, but wands are supposed to listen to you, wands choose you after all… have you ever talked about it before?” Jaemin questioned. It was really irregular that a wand didn’t listen, unless you actively performed a spell wrong. Maybe he was given a bad wand? Jaemin couldn’t imagine vampires had many options to begin with.

 

“Only Mark, once or twice. He didn’t really know what to do, but he’s a muggleborn, so... “ Jeno’s words trailed off. “Anyway, I don’t know. My wand has my father’s fang in it, so it should be better for me, but… Maybe I should talk about it with my brother.” He gave up mid-sentence, and Jaemin didn’t pick up the subject. Donghae already said their father was gone, he didn’t want to bring up painful memories.

 

“Your cats are cute. What’s his name?” He said, changing the subject. The tabby cat from before circled around him, and Jaemin carefully placed a hand on his head, petting it. Jeno smiled, looking a bit more comfortable with that topic.

 

“This one is named Seol-ie, and the rest are….” Jeno started talking, and Jaemin had to process everything very fast. It was the most Jeno ever talked to him, and he couldn’t really complain. By the time Jaemin had to go home, he knew that even he hadn’t convinced Jeno to come back, at the very least, Jeno was feeling better. 

 

It saddened him to think Jeno might not return on Monday to school, but at the very least, he had hope he will.

 

-

 

Jisung finally felt a bit more at peace when Sunday arrived.

 

He was completely aware all of his friends were an absolute mess at the moment. Donghyuck had a bad back and temper, Jaemin was currently somewhere in Incheon trying to bring back Jeno, he didn’t consider Mark a friend really but if he wasn’t a mess at the moment he didn’t know what was. So today, since all of them are not at school with this drama going on, he decided it was time to revisit the Thestrals. He always came at least once in two weeks, but he felt today is significant because he kind of needed their calming effect more than usual.

 

When he entered the clearing, the twin Thestrals immediately came to view. They weren’t all that big yet. Still looking closer to ponies than fully grown Thestrals, but definitely intimidating nonetheless. Unless you knew what big sweethearts they were, and Jisung certainly did. 

 

He petted both of them, at this point neither their mother of anyone in their herd cared much about it. He decided that it was about time that he would give them names, since no matter how much he waited professor Maki just didn’t introduce the herd to class yet. He settled on something pretty standard and not to unique so if he hears their real names in a future class, he could just relegate the name to a nickname.

 

“So listen, you - your name will be Deo,” he pointed at the slightly bigger twin of the two. “And you will be Beul.” He said to the other one. Calling the two of the two of them Double wasn’t the most unique idea he could use for twins, but Jisung was known for his flying ability, not for his creativity.

 

Everything had been pretty nice and quiet for a good while. Beul even let him ride him for a bit before deciding he was tired of it. Most of the herd were just resting. Both of the twins still tried to get the hang of flying. Jisung thinks it was Deo that managed to actually decently fly back then, but it seemed like he was still struggling to do it consistently. 

 

At some point, Jisung kind of noticed that most of the herd lifted their heads at once, their strikingly gaunt faces all alarmed at once. It was unsettling to think that anything could make such terrifying looking creatures to become unnerved, but nothing would surprise Jisung at this point. There had been some curiosity on his part, however, Jisung didn’t find himself coming up until Deo and Beul decided to go investigate themselves, almost leaving the clearing before Jisung manages to get up.

 

“Hey, wait for me!” He yelled, quickly standing up and starting to run after them. As much as he liked the rest of the Thestrals, he preferred being with the two younger ones. Also, if there was any threat, he knows that the twins are much more likely to care about his safety than the rest. The two didn’t seem keen on slowing down, so Jisung really just had the unfortunate luck of having to run two times faster than he used to. Pony sized or not, their sprint was no joke.

 

After a few long minutes for Jisung, the two slowed down. Jisung could finally hear something. The voices of a few people talking. He hid behind a bush which gave just enough cover. Deo and Beul both went closer, lucky to be invisible to most people.

 

“Listen, if we sneak you out, at least try to not get injured! Kun-ge can read minds, if that scratch was anywhere more noticeable we would be dead!” Someone said dramatically while another person laughed out loud. The voice was pretty familiar, was it….?

 

“It’s barely there! And they can only blame Ten for talking with his snake for half an hour instead of actually doing something with me. At least Dejun lets me help him with his potions, all Ten did was talk parseltongue for thirty minutes and told me to try to learn!” Another voice said, high pitched and upset. Now Jisung was sure he recognized the voices.

 

It was Chenle, Renjun, and that laugh was familiar enough that he could assume the other one was Yangyang. He lifted his head a little bit to see what was going on.

 

“If you could learn parseltongue that easily I would’ve picked it up from him already. Would’ve gave me status with my friends from Durmstrang.” Yangyang said, sounding a bit pretentious. 

 

“You have enough reputation for just attending Durmstrang, Mr. wolf in sheep’s costume. Yew wand? Learned dark arts? Add the parseltongue part and people just might think you’re Voldermort, Yangie.” Renjun teased. Jisung didn’t understand what they were all talking about, but he didn’t think being considered similar to the Dark Lord is a good thing.

 

“Woah, Chenle, look at how the half-bloods are growing brave here. mentioning the Dark Lord himself by  _ name _ . He might just come and bite you, Junnie.” Yangyang retorted, letting out a mock hissing sound as well as suddenly tickling the other boy, who ran away from him, kicking the air to put a gap between them.

 

“You try to tickle me and I’ll show you a bite.” Renjun said, totally betraying that pure boy look he has to him. Not that Jisung was surprised, he already got to speak to Renjun. The boy really was far from his look.

 

“Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel!” Chenle yelled, egging the two on for a fight excitedly. 

 

“Come on, Chenle, you are really asking me to fight someone who had a two years Dueling course in Durmstrang? That’s just plain unfair.” Renjun complained, but Yangyang already brought out his wand, swirly at the handle, yellowish, and ready to attack. 

 

“What, Junnie? Scared?” He provoked, a wide, rectangular grin on his face.

 

“Junnie, I saw you learning about dueling theory already! You’ll be fine, you are great in charms.” Chenle motivated, and Jisung pouted, jealous. Jaemin and Donghyuck were great friends, but if you messed up in a class they were ready to tease you about it and maybe just comfort you later. Though if he had to deal with someone as bad as him in Transfiguration, he might be the same.

 

With that encouragement, Renjun pulled out his wand, a bit darker in color, and a lot less personalized than Yangyang’s. “If you want a duel that bad…” Renjun put his free hand behind his back, and now that the two were in position, it kind of looked like they were ready for fencing rather than anything else. Wasn’t exactly like how he saw the older kids start a duel, but Renjun and Yangyang weren’t exactly supervised by a teacher to care about any formalities. 

 

Yangyang said some kind of spell that, Jisung couldn’t hear it exactly, but Renjun quickly avoided it rather easily. They were going back and forth with charms Jisung never learned about, while Chenle was sitting back and cheering for both. There were yellow tinted sparks all around - Beul and Deo running to a safer area as the two boys moved around, hiding between trees as they avoided each others shots as well as countered them.

 

_ “Expelliarmus!”  _ Renjun yelled, and white spark shot so close near Jisung that he couldn’t help but scream as he jumped away from it, finding himself among the leaves and soil on the ground. He spat out, convinced that some dirt managed to find its way into his mouth.  _ Ew, ew, ew! _

 

By the time he managed to lift his head up, Yangyang was beside him with his wand aimed right at his face. Jisung held his hands up in fear, his heart thumping against his chest loudly. Deo and Beul were standing right in front of them, but were not moving, looking just as scared as him. He shut his eyes as a last gesture of surrender. 

 

_ “Why  _ are you spying on us?” Yangyang demanded, his lips pursued in suspicion. Jisung scrambled to his feet, taking a few steps backwards from him. Yangyang didn’t put away the wand, still aiming at Jisung, scowling. “Just because we let sit next to us doesn’t mean we want you around.” 

 

“I-I’m not spying! I just heard things from over here! I always come here, you can even ask the teachers!” Jisung tried to back away, facing away from the wand as if trying to escape the reality of it on his neck. “I swear I was only here by chance!” He ran through the words as fast as his heartbeat was going. He really didn’t mean to!  _ Please, god, I’ll never be nosy again, just let me live… _

 

“Stop it! He isn’t doing anything, you are just scaring him!” Chenle piped in, pushing Yangyang slightly to the side. Finally the wand moved away from his neck, Jisung inhaled after a long time of holding his breath. He had never been so thankful to anyone his entire life. “I’m sorry, he’s too over the top…” Chenle muttered. Yangyang glared at him.

 

“Chenle, last time we discovered something spying after us Renjun almost-” He started, but got an major punch to the shoulder by Renjun, who could probably kill someone with his stare at the moment. Yangyang yelped in pain, but immediately sealed his mouth shut seeing Renjun’s face.

 

“Keep yourself quiet!” Renjun said, his brows furrowed in dismay. He then looked at Jisung. “The others from our school don’t know about us sneaking Chenle out. And you are not going to mention it.  _ Are we clear?”  _ He asked, knowing there was no other answer than yes. Jisung nodded his head fervently, as if nothing as mattered.

 

Chenle was frowning throughout all of it. He reached for Jisung’s wrist and pulled on it, making Jisung focus on him. “I’m really sorry about this, the older ones are just very strict about these things… I’m sure you didn’t mean to spy..” He apologized, twinkly eyes set on him as guilt shone through them. Yangyang rolled his eyes.

 

“This is exactly why Kun ge doesn’t let you out by yourself-” Yangyang was once again cut off, Renjun with an appalled expression now stomping on him, now significantly angrier. 

 

“And this is why you need to watch what you say all the time!” He yelled at him, the two more focused on their own argument that what was going on in front of them. Chenle pulled Jisung away from the two, side-eyeing them as they kept arguing. Deo and Beul were no standing behind Jisung from both sides, looking at Chenle just as curiously as Jisung did.

 

“Don’t worry about them. They are nice, they just don’t like surprises.” Chenle said softly. Jisung knew Renjun and Yangyang were nice, they were plenty nice when they shared seats together. He just never expected them to explode like this on him. He does admit their group always seemed fun. He can’t say he wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose - after he realized he was them, he couldn’t help but want to know what were they doing there.  _ I’m not their friend, though. I shouldn’t have stayed…  _ he thought sadly.

 

Chenle seemed only more upset by Jisung’s defeated demeanor. “Uh-, I-I’m also sorry about not responding to you when you tried to talk to me in the halls.” He blurted out quickly, trying to think of ways to make it better. “The older students from our school are really overprotective.. It’s not against you, it’s just… I really never had luck with strangers.” 

 

Jisung couldn’t really understand what he meant. Did people try to swindle or pickpocket him? Yeah, he was from a prominent family, that’s something Jisung knew, but since when people care all that much? Jisung didn’t really know what to think of it, so he only answered what he could follow.

 

“I don’t consider you a stranger.” He stated. Chenle’s eyes widened in the slightest, a bit taken aback but nonetheless, Jisung was only being true to himself. Chenle was not a stranger - he was a classmate, a funny guy he sees every day. They don’t really talk, yes, but the little they had talked was nice. He was sadly an acquaintance, hopefully a friend, but far from a stranger.

 

“Well,  _ I _ don’t know what to think of you right now, so ‘fess up. What were you doing here?” Yangyang kept his scowl as he intervened, and Chenle snapped his head to glare at him, looking almost betrayed. 

 

Jisung gulped, but knew it was better for him to just tell it as it is. “T-there’s a clearing up ahead, that I discovered last year. It’s quiet, and most younger students don’t know about it, so I go there to, uh.. relax.. and think. I was there and I thought I heard something from here, so.. I was curious. No one ever comes here.” He explained, trying to not look away from Yangyang’s piercing stare. Probably one of the hardest things he ever did.

 

Finally Yangyang seemed a bit pacified, the explanation probably adding up in his mind nicely. Jisung tried to not make his relief apparent. He left out the part he met invisible winged horses, because honestly, that sounds super made up. The only reason he managed to make himself sound coherent was the fact he had to lie so much when he was younger - if the other orphanage kids didn’t make him lie to the their caretakers whenever they did something naughty, maybe he would have gotten a charm to his neck.

 

“Fine, then. Just don’t mention we were here. I’m telling you the truth here, you are not the only that’s afraid of Sicheng.” Renjun said, and Jisung blushed thinking about how he actually admitted to them he was scared of the other students from their school. “Honestly, I think we should go back. I think Ten probably noticed we didn’t go to eat by now.” He suggested. Yangyang hummed in agreement. Chenle still looked upset, though.

 

Yangyang and Renjun already started to go ahead by themselves. Chenle sighed in what Jisung thought was disappointment, before glancing back at him. He gave a small wave of a hand, and begrudgingly went ahead when the two other students called him to hurry up. He looked like he wanted to say something, but whatever it was, it didn’t come out of his mouth.

 

As they disappeared from view, Jisung let out a moan of relief. Deo and Beul, who were now sitting and watching him, seemed to share the sentiment.

 

-

 

Kun was absolutely outraged.

 

“You are the most unreliable, irresponsible, idiotic guy I have EVER had to deal with!” He screamed at Ten, his voice echoing through their dorm. He already managed to scare half of the dorm, Xiaojun hiding behind Hendery and Yukhei doing everything to deny there was an actual fight going on. He couldn’t believe it! They left Chenle with him for a few hours, all he had to do was make sure he wouldn’t be without supervision. That’s it.

 

“Well you cousin is a top fucking contender for that, Kun! What do you want me to say?! They told me they were going to eat, was I supposed to tell them to starve?!” Ten answered with just as much anger, if not more. If Ten wasn’t on the shorter side, Kun might’ve been worried about getting about an actual fist fight at the moment. He certainly wouldn’t put it past him.

 

“HE’S A KID! and no, you weren’t supposed to tell them to starve, you should’ve went with them! Renjun and Yangyang are just as young, and I don’t care if any of you don’t like Yangyang, he’s from a noble family! Do I need to remind you why we’re all even here?!” Kun raged, and no one in the room could escape the collective wince that hit them. No one needed a reminder of why they were here.

 

Should Lóng Fèng academy had wanted to stay a secret for any longer, it would have remained one. The establishment was made and ran as the most close guarded secret of Wenzhou and China in itself. In a country with population so large they had to make sure that any possible magical thing would be kept under the rug, and they did. But in a time so tense politically, there were bound to be problems.

 

Kun will never forget the day Chenle came crying to him that someone had been in his room. He would never forget the tears that ran down the child’s face when they entered it back again and saw death threats written in blood on the walls, cursing every Zhong in existence. Any pureblood in existence. He would never forget the broken chairs that were caused by a jinxed knife meant to attack everything in sight.

 

It was that day that everyone knew that it was no longer safe for Chenle to stay in the Academy. But at that point, the amounts of attacks that occurred were insufferable. No matter where they went in China, he would be targeted. Hendery and Yangyang were also taken in consideration - being a child in one of China’s fifty one pureblood families was a dangerous life in recent years. 

 

So the Zhongs used their power and did what they could to protect their only heir. Pulling some strings, they set up the revelation of the Academy. In no time they have been requested by International Confederation of Wizards to be tested to become an approved Wizarding school, to which the school responded by saying that they will send their very own students to be tested by another Wizarding school. The Confederation agreed to that, saying they will be tested for minimum three years, and the rest is history.

 

“I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE IS! I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TELL YOU! I didn’t forget, but I also didn’t fucking sign up to be a toddler’s babysitter every single time you can’t!” Ten exploded at Kun, and despite wanting to punch him in the face, Kun knew that it wouldn’t do him well. He gritted his teeth in frustration and turned away from the other.

 

“I’m going to look for them. If anyone knows where they are, let me know.” He said, his voice filled with contempt and stress. He went straight to the door and he could feel Sicheng tailing him worriedly, but he had no time for consoling. He was sure Sicheng was just as upset. Even if Renjun was not a pureblood and therefore not a main target, being associated with targets wouldn’t exactly gain you any points with their attacker.

 

He left the scene and flung the door of the dorm open, ready to roam the entire island if he had to.

 

Good thing that he didn’t.

Three children were standing in the hallway, shocked at the sudden appearance of him and Sicheng. They looked like they were contemplating running away, and honestly, Kun was more than ready to prove that they should have started sprinting the minute they saw him.

 

“You three absolute BRATS!” He yelled, stomping his way towards them. Yangyang and Renjun backed away a few steps, hands in front of them in fright. Chenle didn’t move an inch, but Kun could tell that the boy was pretty shaken up himself. “I will END you! What the hell were you thinking?! You are lucky the professors went back to China this weekend, do you know what hell Professor Zhang would’ve raised?!” He didn’t hold back on the volume of his voice. Only older students remained on Sundays in the castle, and their dorm was far away from theirs. 

 

Yangyang looked away, huffing. “That’s exactly why we went today… he wouldn’t be a problem..” He uttered, and even though Kun personally knew he was not a bad kid, he had to admit that his nerve was mind bogglingly annoying.

 

“That doesn’t give you the right to scare people like this! All of you know that school grounds are not a safe zone! You know people are out to get you!  _ What is not clicking?!”  _ At this point Kun felt like he ripped his own throat from yelling, but really, he’s not going to sit around and wait that one day he will have to hear his cousin is dead because he wanted to go exploring.

 

The three remained dead silent, and Kun ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself.

 

“All of you are grounded. For a week. No one of us will take you out of the dorm after school hours and you  _ will most certainly not go yourself.  _ You will sit next to us in lunch and will have someone attached to you when you won’t have classes.” He said, seeing the boys’ faces becoming more desperate as he spoke. 

 

“You are not our teacher! I just started to know people here, you can’t!” Renjun cried out. Sicheng gave him a death glare, a commanding one that clearly told him to stop his tantrum. He sniffled out loud, Yangyang just stood there frozen, and Chenle just looked on the verge of tears. It wasn’t nice to do, but Kun won’t break. They needed their lesson before it will be too late to teach them. 

 

“Well, because our teachers are not here, you will have to deal with my punishment. Unless you want me to tell them,  _ of course. _ ” The three instantly yelled some kind of ‘no’, whether it was the slurred, teary one from Renjun or the half yell from Yangyang. “And I don’t care if you want your friends, if you can’t even think of your own well-being don’t even dare thinking about other people.” He warned, his hands crossed across his chest.

 

Now, Kun thought everything ended, as they all grew silent. He made his point, he can get inside, make himself some hot cocoa and just go to sleep. He sure did need it. But he knew he was in for a ride when he saw Chenle’s tears practically flooding his face. 

 

His cousin came forward, hitting Kun with his shoulder as he speed walked into the doors, tears still streaming down his eyes. He pushed through all of those eavesdropping meddlers he called friends as he went through the entrance they blocked while listening to the scene. Kun went after him in longer strides. Sicheng can deal with Yangyang and Renjun, Chenle was more than enough for anyone to deal with.

 

Kun decided to just use his Legilimency skills, seeing the way Chenle was actively running away from him. 

 

_ ‘He doesn’t even think of me when it comes to punishments…’  _ was a sentence that was right away loud and clear.  _ What the hell? What does that even mean? _

 

“Chenle, a punishment is a punishment, if you don’t like it then don’t do these things!” He called out to him. His cousin was already familiar with him mind-reading, so it wouldn’t come out of the blue. If they had to talk like this they would.

 

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Chenle screeched, and one of their chandeliers shattered to pieces in his fit of rage. Kun stopped in his place, processing just what happened. To actually break something without a use of a wand was super hard - Chenle would have to channel every fiber of magic of an emotion he has to do that. 

 

Kun didn’t even know how to start approaching him. He has never seen Chenle being so upset, and considering everything that Chenle had been through, it wasn’t something to be taken lightly. His cousin didn’t react well to the Legilimency, so he opted to just try and talk. 

 

“Why are you like this?” He asked. Chenle’s enraged gaze made him feel like an idiot, as it was almost screaming that he should know. He wondered if he chose the wrong words, but even if Chenle bit his lips at that moment, it was clear that he wasn’t going to hold his tongue.

 

“You are the worst. All of you! Not letting me talk to anyone, not letting me do anything! And now you are giving out punishments, and the worst you could come up with is what my day  _ is usually like.  _ Why does my life have to a punishment, and only the rest get to complain? Why?” He sobbed, the lights around them flickering sadly with sound of his voice wavering.

 

Kun’s throat felt like it was ripped earlier, but now it was drier than a desert.  _ No, I didn’t mean that, it’s not… _

 

“I hate you. I hate all of you.” He wailed, running to his room and not looking back.

 

The atmosphere in the room turned cold, as everyone looked at him to know what to do. He nearly found himself falling to the floor, wondering if making himself smaller might take the burden away. Sicheng came behind him, his hand squeezing his shoulder. 

 

“Guys, let’s clean here before the teachers return…” Sicheng’s deep voice suggested, and everyone took the offer as it rose.

 

_ None of us want to be in this situation,  _ a voice in Kun’s head echoed.  _ But all of us have to. _

 

-

 

Jeno was stressed.

 

The decision to come back to Mahoutokoro wasn’t an easy one. Talking to his brother about his problems alone was pretty hard in itself, but actually having to face them was an entirely different thing. After he admitted to Donghae about his problem with magic, Donghae has confirmed to him that it was indeed unusual, and not a show of his lacking skills as a wizard.

 

They ended up sending a letter to the headmaster that day, the same Friday Jaemin has arrived. After many years of teaching, he probably had some experience with this type of thing, they figured. All in all, it seemed like the answer was pretty straightforward - Jeno did not accept himself, so the wand didn’t accept him. Headmaster Miyamoto was completely sure about it, and it made Jeno feel incompetent and guilty, to some degree.

 

He keeps being the one that is sabotaging himself, and he was honestly embarrassing. He was so behind on school work for being admitted a year after anyway, and now he missed more days because he was busy pitying himself. Maybe if he tried harder at studying he would’ve managed to catch up with the rest of the students, like Mark had.

 

Jeno sighed. He wondered if he could even get his wand to work now. He was still afraid of how the student body would look at him now, as everyone probably realized by now that he’s a half-vampire. Donghyuck did practically shout it in the middle of the grand hall, after all… Jeno shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. It will be okay.  _ Think of the letters you’ve received. You’ll be okay. _

 

He didn’t get to say it to Jaemin, but he was actually really touched by the letters. Mark wrote him a long explanation about what happened, and how he misses him and hopes he comes back. Donghyuck wrote him a letter filled with jokes about his back, and how he  _ has to get him back,  _ so he has to come to school. He always thought Donghyuck was annoying, but it was endearing to read, especially the part where it became serious and he said he would like to be friends. Jisung’s letter was a surprise. Jeno was convinced the boy hated both him and Mark, but his short letter held meaning, saying how gloomy it is now that he’s gone, and how he believed that if they got to know each other, maybe school would be nicer.

 

Last but not least was Jaemin’s letter, which admittedly almost made Jeno tear up. He already knew Jaemin’s regrets, but the genuine apology made him a little emotional. Maybe it was because he never thought he will ever get to hear a genuine sorry from anyone. It might have been the play by play of Jaemin had written of the first time they interacted, and how he truly wanted to help. Could’ve also been how Jeno found himself thinking back about all their interactions and realizing that Jaemin had never, not even once, looked at him hatefully, despite Jeno giving him more than enough reasons to.

 

Thinking like this was what made him feel more confident in his choice. If he didn’t have those letters in his mind, maybe he wouldn’t have found himself back In Mahoutokoro.

 

But here he is. He is back.

 

Sitting in the headmaster’s office awkwardly, but back.

 

Headmaster Miyamoto did say that he wanted to help Jeno to not only accept himself, but also catch up with his studies and learn to control the half of him that wasn’t so human. He said that if he wanted to get better, he would have to learn to take charge of the vampire side as well, and Jeno full heartedly agree. The first incident with Jaemin occurred because he ripped his lips open due to his fangs were growing,  _ basically because he was teething. _ he can’t let stuff like this happen all the time.

 

So now it is Monday and he was waiting for Headmaster Miyamoto to introduce his ‘solutions’ to the matter.

 

The old man seemed perfectly pleased sitting in his desk and tinkering with some knick knack he had lying around as they waited for something unknown. Well, at least for Jeno. He had absolutely no idea what was going on, while the headmaster looked like he was just waiting for something to unfold. 

 

There was a knock on the door, and the old man lifted his face, smiling knowingly. “Come in, come in.” He said joyfully, his laugh lines becoming even wrinkled than before. Jeno heard the double door of his office creak as it opened up. Coming inside were two older students - one with deep, scarlet red robes and bunny-like teeth, and another boy that Jeno actually recognized - that was Mark’s teammate. Wasn’t he also the one guy that stopped him when he went on his rampage?

 

_ Embarrassing.  _

 

“Hello, boys Come sit down.. Jeno, these two are Kim Dongyoung and Jung Jaehyun, two spectacular students from 5th year.” The headmaster told him as he gestured to the seats next to Jeno, one to each side of him. The two boys did as he said, and Jeno felt mildly uncomfortable. He said a small ‘hi’ to the two of them, which they both kind of answered to in similar fashion, but felt like he was in a parents-teacher meeting with two strangers and it was by far one of the most awkward moments he had through his life. At least one cough from the headmaster was enough to break the ice.

 

“I wanted you two to get to know Jeno over here. You see, Jeno is relatively new student, as he joined this year to the student body, straight to second year. It’s quite a big jump and he didn’t get to properly learn the basics, but he’s been trying to suffer through it for a while. I would like you two to help him, but in different ways.” The headmaster explained. The one the headmaster called Dongyoung seemed to already catch his drift, nodding slowly with a slightly apprehensive ‘ah’, but the other seemed to need more details.

 

“What do you mean by that, headmaster?” Jaehyun asked with an unsure tone to his voice. He didn’t seem self-doubting, but he looked positively confused. The old man grinned.

 

“Well, I’m sure you have already realized I would like Dongyoung over here to tutor Jeno. Certainly one of our brightest students would be able to help Jeno catch up, but there’s an additional problem to this equation. Jeno’s wand doesn’t listen to him at will as of right now. The problem is that Jeno has a problem with accepting himself, or more correctly, the inhuman part of his genes.” He explained further, and realization dawned on Jaehyun, who gave a few nods. Jeno felt under inspection, with all eyes lingering on him, but kept quiet. There was nothing to do of it.

 

“Now I’m sure you all heard the rumors, and you definitely already know, Jaehyun, because you stopped his inhuman fit a while back, but Jeno is a half-vampire. We all know most halflings have a very hard time in society, so I wanted that in addition to having Dongyoung tutoring him, you will also help him with controlling his emotions as well as hold him back in emergency situations, Jaehyun.” Jeno became kind of pale at those words. So he’s getting a sitter? Isn’t it also a bit dangerous to Jaehyun?

 

“Um, headmaster, I don’t know… what if I accidentally…?” Jeno spoke up, glancing at Jaehyun. He and the headmaster exchanged looks. Jaehyun looked  _ amused. _

 

“I’m quarter-veela,” Jaehyun said, grinning himself. “I’ll be fine. I’m not super strong, but more formidable than others.” 

 

_ Oh.  _ That explains a lot. 

 

“Now, of course, I will not make you do it if you don’t want to, but I will say that this could be considered as extra credit, should you take this opportunity.” He said, and the two boys thought to themselves. Jeno felt a little nervous. If they don’t agree, is there another plan? Both of them seemed a bit hesitant, but looking at one another, both of them found their answers.

 

“I will do it!” The two said in unison, and instantly looked at each other. The weird thing was that they felt…  _ competitive.  _ Jeno didn’t really know if he liked that, but for better or for worse, he’d have to handle it.

 

“I’m glad to hear that, boys. I knew I could count on you.” The headmaster simpered. He truly did look like he knew he had nothing to worry about with the two. “I will arrange for young Jeno here time for him to meet you two. Now, go to lunch, the three of you. Get to know each other on the way, if you will.” 

 

The door opened behind them, the same creak from before making Jeno jump in his seat. 

 

The two older boys came up from their seats, bowing slightly before moving towards the entrance. Jeno was a few seconds late on it, but also stood up. “Thank you, Headmaster.” He said, bowing slightly deeper than the other two and rushing to get out as both of them seemed to have been waiting for him.

 

Jeno had to walk faster to keep up with their pace. One step of theirs was like three of his and he found himself behind them several times. He couldn’t bring himself to mention it, they already heard how lacking he was. He should suck it up and deal with it. Donghae always said people are not there to coddle others, so there’s no point in asking for it. He pondered what he should say to them as they headed to the grand hall. What can he say…?

 

“Sorry, am I walking too fast? I’m used to hurrying to the lunch, my friends can finish up our table’s meat portions in seconds.” Jaehyun laughed awkwardly, his hand on the nape of his neck. Dongyoung seemed more embarrassed than he was, and Jeno could hear him groaning under his breath. He wondered if he did something to annoy him. 

 

“It’s okay..” Jeno hesitated for a second, but thought that it would be easier to just keep up the conversation now that one of them spoke up. “Thank you for agreeing to help me.” Jeno said politely, wanting to at least make some good impression on the two. Not to say he wasn’t actually grateful, but he felt like the two should know he wouldn’t be taking their favor for granted.

 

“No problem. I’ll do my best to be your favorite.” Jaehyun grinned as Dongyoung gave him the glare of the century. 

 

“You can keep on dreaming, Jung. Don’t worry Jeno, I’ll make sure you will catch up with the rest in no time.” Dongyoung said, his words a bit nicer that Jeno actually expected from him. He was glad the former sour face didn’t actually mean anything.

 

He kept walking down the hallways with them. They were getting closer to their destination and the food, and Jeno wasn’t sure how to approach them later, so he quickly asked. “If I need to find you, should I go to the fifth years dorms and ask for you?”

 

“Just come up to somebody and ask for Jaehyun or Doyoung. There’s only so many Korean students in our year, they’ll know who you are talking about.” Jaehyun said, walking down the staircase to the grand hall. Jeno was a bit confused. 

 

“Doyoung?” He looked at Dongyoung, questioning.

 

“My name is pretty long, so I shortened it. Most people don’t know my full name by now, actually. It just got stuck, but I kind of like it better anyway.” He explained. Jeno nodded, understanding. Most of his coven also actually calls him Jen, but he never let it slip to the school because he felt the nickname was a little girly.  _ I should make sure to call him Doyoung… _

 

They reached the door of the grand hall and Jeno halted, a few feet away from it. He had this bubbly, nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he felt himself needing to flee. There was something frightening in entering the same room he embarrassed himself in front of the whole school in, and no matter how many people will encourage him he can’t make himself not care for strangers’ opinions on him.

 

Doyoung probably figured he was nervous, because he put his hand on his back, gently pressing him to walk beside him as they entered. Jaehyun also got a tiny bit closer to him, and Jeno wasn’t completely sure if he was doing it for him or for the people inside the hall (because really, he doesn’t have a great history of keeping his emotions in check), but regardless, he was thankful.

The room was filled with chatter, students either talking or eating with no in between. Some people looked up to see who entered, it wasn’t like it was regular for students to miss twenty minutes of the lunch, after all. Jeno heard some gasps and felt his heart sinking. 

 

“The half-breed came back.”

 

“Worse than a mudblood. Why does our school needs to take in Korea’s trash…”

 

“They shouldn’t let him in the room, it’s not like he needs to eat here anyway… that  _ thing  _ shouldn’t get ideas.”

 

_ Ah.  _

 

Jeno knew he would have to steel himself for the return, but he didn’t expect all of the other students to be this blunt. You’d think they’d be scared of the big bad vampire, but they didn’t really care about him hearing any of it. It was certainly not a good start for the rest of his school days, but..  _ You have to ignore it. You can’t live depending on other people. Donghae said it enough times, so just stop being a disappointment… _

 

“Hey, Jeno Lee!” Jeno snapped back into reality, and he could see Mark standing up, waving at him from his seat with a bright smile. He was sitting next to Jaemin, Jisung and Donghyuck, who all seemed at least relieved if not happy. Something in him calmed down as he saw them, his focus now shifted.

 

“Come on, go to him. he’s been talking about you non-stop at quidditch practice.” Jaehyun whispered to him, Jeno let out a snort at the thought of Mark babbling about him. Mark usually found himself rambling easily when he felt comfortable. It was actually pretty funny.

 

“I’ll talk to you later, Jaehyun hyung, Doyoung hyung.” He said before running off towards his friends.

 

_ His friends.  _

 

He didn’t know if he could call of them that, but if he ever gets that chance… he wouldn’t be against it.

 

-

 

Chenle bit into his chicken drumstick. Hard. 

 

He wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. Kun has been trying to through to him since the incident yesterday, but at this point, Chenle didn’t even want to bother. He was completely burnt out of everything. Everything was going wrong and he was sick and tired of it. 

 

He hadn’t seen his family for months already, he had to walk around like a prisoner with eight bodyguards stuck to him, and those said bodyguards didn’t listen to him for more than five minutes without dismissing everything into  _ ‘but there is no other choice’.  _

 

It wasn’t like Chenle didn’t get it. He really did. He never complained about having to move around the continent all of the time, he let it go when the rest shut down others from talking to him, and did understand that Kun and all of them were only doing what they were told to. 

 

But it just wasn’t fine anymore. All of them were allowed to glare and intimidate other students that Chenle  _ wished  _ he could be friends with, giving those potential friends a bad impression of Chenle. They were overtly mean sometimes, and he just  _ hated it.  _ If he can’t be friends with others, then at least don’t embarrass him in front of his classmates like this. He thought that much would be obvious.

It also went completely against what his parents used to tell him. That he needs to keep a smile on his face, to remain kind no matter who was he dealing with, because good reputation could possibly save him. Should a half-blood see him one day and decide he’s actually a good person, the likelihood of the half-blood murdering him would definitely decrease. 

 

Aside from that, he was ticked off by the entire punishment thing - from Kun giving him a punishment that is basically his life to Renjun and Yangyang whining about it. He knows he shouldn’t be mad at Renjun and Yangyang, he knows they didn’t mean to, but he felt like they were close enough so the two of them would at least not cry about it in front of him.

 

He probably chewed on his drumstick for like ten minutes before he realized there was no taste anymore. He was tempted to spit it out of spite, but begrudgingly swallowed it. Being stuck in these thoughts was no fun, and he really wished he could just forget about this entire mess, but it was kind of hard to ignore it when all of his ges were dead silent and in the same mood as he was.

 

Apparently something out there was willing to save him from his thoughts, however. The half-vampire kid that Renjun and Yangyang has spoken to before entered the room, with two others older students by his side. He wasn’t there for a week; Chenle heard he was suspended because of that angry fit he went through, but according to what Renjun told him, the younger Korean students had a big misunderstanding within their group, and the two that got hurt in the fit were actually apologetic to the guy.  _ Jeno,  _ Chenle’s mind supplied.  _ Well, he’s my classmate, so of course I’d know.  _

 

Anyways, it sounded like convoluted, big problem, and Chenle was kind of sad to hear about it. He only got to interact with Jisung out of the five kids in that group, but they all seemed pretty nice. The sad thing was they all looked like they went through hell throughout the entire week. The rumors about what was going on circulated everywhere, so he had to imagine it had to be a pretty big deal for them. 

 

He wasn’t all that sure about the details, but the way people trash talked Jeno right in front of him was actually shocking. The nerve some of them had made him angry.  _ Korea’s trash… how can they be so gross? _

 

Luckily enough, Jeno found himself with his group of friends. He could see Mark hugging Jeno, while the rest welcomed him with huge smiles on their faces. None of them looked mad any longer - they probably sorted out their problem somehow. Chenle was happy for them.

 

But at the same time…

 

He was pretty jealous. He will even admit it - what happened with Jisung back in the woods was what caused him to feel so annoyed with his situation. Jisung was just a regular kid that came by his side,  _ willing  _ to be his friend, and Yangyang just treated him like he was a criminal. It just wasn’t right, and both Yangyang and Renjun  _ knew  _ Jisung was a good person - they sat with him for an entire lunch before. Like come on. 

 

He watched wistfully as Jisung’s group laughed around and chatted away. It looked so different from the gloom that was going on at his table. He didn’t feel like eating anymore. All he wanted was to go back to his room and sleep. Maybe then this day will finally pass.

 

“Chenle.” Kun said, trying to get his attention. He was seated right across the table. Chenle frowned and lazily lifted his gaze to his cousin. 

 

“What?” There wasn’t any point in getting mad right now. He had enough to worry about as it is. 

 

“Do you want to go talk to them?” Kun asked seriously, looking back to where Jisung and the others sat. Chenle nearly dropped his chopsticks.

 

“Huh? But you said…” Chenle trailed off, not wanting to remind Kun of that. If there’s a sliver of a chance he’ll actually some sort of  _ choice… _

 

“I know what I said. But you are right also. Both in what you told me yesterday and what you thought of today.” Kun admitted, and even though Chenle should be mad he got into his mind again, he couldn’t help but smile.  _ Is he really….? _

 

“Yes, Chenle. Really. I’ll talk to Professor Zhang already… just keep your guard up, alright?” Kun looked apprehensive about the entire thing, but Chenle wouldn’t complain about anything. He never thought this would happen. Even if being quiet wasn’t his forte, he would suck it up this time. He nodded aggressively, smiling from ear to ear.

 

“What about us?” Renjun piped in with his pout on full display. Yangyang nodded beside him, going with puppy eyes for his approach.

 

Kun groaned. “Fine, whatever. You and Yangyang can go too. You will have to tell them you are grounded and all of that, though. From tomorrow until the rest of the week punishment is back on. You too, Chenle.” Chenle was still beaming, he couldn’t care in the least about the rest of the punishment. Kun can keep on acting like a mom for all he cared. He has his chance today!

 

“Call me mom one more time and this whole deal is cancelled.” He stated, looking at Yangyang in particular.  _ We probably though similarly.  _ Nevertheless, Chenle jumped out of his seat before Kun could change his mind. He wasn’t exactly the shy type, so he didn’t really care about approaching people. He quickly walked over to Jisung’s table, Renjun and Yangyang in tow. 

 

Bubbly as ever, the minute he got close enough he reached out to touch Jisung’s shoulder. 

 

“Jisung!” he chirped happily, gaining not only Jisung’s attention, but his friends’ too.

 

“Chenle?” Jisung looked at him confused. His eyes lingered at the table Chenle just came from, probably still unsure of the situation.

 

“Don’t worry about them, they finally decided to give me some freedom for a change. If you all don’t mind, can I,” He was suddenly was poked at his back.  _ Ah, right. Renjun and Yangyang too.   _ “Can we sit  with you?” He asked politely, and although the entire group was a bit shocked, they didn’t seem against it as they shared their looks.

 

“I don’t see why not.” Jaemin said.

 

“I guess I have to make up for that lunch Renjun and Yangyang had to suffer through.” Jeno added awkwardly. 

 

Donghyuck looked around and saw there was no disagreement, so he took charge. “Okay then, all of you need to scoot over. Make them some place!” He said, and the rest did as he said. In no time they all found their places. Chenle sat next to Jisung, the two others sitting beside him. 

 

Jisung still looked a bit nervous. “Uh, are you sure they won’t kill me? They weren’t happy about me being around yesterday...” He said it in a whisper, looking at Yangyang specifically. Chenle felt a little bad about it, but what happened happened. All that he could do was fix it. He shook his head.

“Take it as an apology. They told me you were nice before, they just got scared yesterday.” He reassured, and even though he doesn’t think Jisung bought into it much, he chose to just leave the subject. He’ll make his friends apologize later. “And I’d like you to be my friend, so… If they have any problems they can mess with me.” He laughed. Jisung looked less tense now, even with that surpassed smile on his face.

 

_ I won’t be a stranger. _

 

“I think an introduction round is in order!” Jaemin announced. Chenle giggled at his enthusiasm. “Donghyuck first!” He added in, and the guy in question pouted at him before starting his own speech. 

 

“Born on the Island of Jeju to Muggleborn parents, Lee Donghyuck was…” He started telling the story of his life dramatically, and no one could keep a straight face at the table. 

 

By the time his turn arrived, Chenle got to a happy realization.

 

_ I don't have to be a stranger any longer. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kjdhfjk my brain is friend tbvh so i can't really think of good end notes... but i hope you enjoyed the new places (which are, just like the rest of the places i mention, a real place) and all of the new stuff that happened/were revealed?? and of course Jeno's cats because... I had to put them in, I had to. There's a lot of questions to answer that i will get to, but for now i hope the update was satisfying hehe. anyways feel free to talk and ask me stuff, I also am sort of back on twitter so even if you just wanna chat go ahead message me @yanvels. (btw there are things i need to tag with this chapter, but imma do it a bit later this time because... i'm sleepy lol) Have a great day guys <3


	8. The Last Match

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dlkfjddk FINALLY IM DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER!!! YES!!  
> uhhh so its 2am but are we surprised? nope. this chapter... is a change of pace, i hope you will all like it.  
> more ships content and... hmmmmm  
> also trigger warning: there's. a bit of gore in this chapter. kinda. SO YEAH i hope you all still have a pleasant read <3

Things had been weird for Jisung. 

 

He couldn’t ignore the fact that his group of friends grew bigger in a few, split seconds. He didn’t even know if he particularly liked it. It was one thing that  _ Chenle _ was now able to talk to him, he really seemed harmless and nice, but he still had his reservations with the rest of them. 

 

Jeno and Mark were obvious - he didn’t mind Jeno much, he was actually pretty nice and all, but he still felt bitter about that day. He felt even more bitter that he couldn’t complain about it, because now they literally spent most of the day with the two. Jaemin was so happy as well, he couldn’t bring himself to complain. He tried to take solace within the fact that Donghyuck was also pretty partial about Mark, but the other pretty much cosied up with Jeno, so again, he could only say so much to him too.

 

Renjun and Yangyang were a whole different story. He has to admit, the day in the woods scared the living shit out of him. They seemed like two completely different people. They didn’t mention anything that happened and all of his reassurance had to come from Chenle, and even though he clicked with Chenle, the two just seemed so suspicious. Or weird, he couldn’t even tell. Yangyang went from being nice to him at dinner, to threatening to kill him and then returned to being sane the day after. Literally a rollercoaster, what was he supposed to expect?

 

He was in potions with Chenle, and they had to make some ridiculously useless potion that would never benefit him in his life. Chenle was studying his notes hard, progressing it in whatever way he could, even if he sliced half of the ingredients too thick or added a bit too much of them. Renjun and Yangyang were together again in the class, and he saw them breezing through it. Maybe they were weird, but they apparently had the brains to back it up. 

 

That being said, from the minute they finished, they just watched him and Chenle like they were a movie, and that again really unsettled him. 

 

“Are we going together to Mark’s match? It’s the last match of the year and I heard they will be going against those scary 7th years.” Chenle asked brightly, taking away his focus. He felt his heart sink again. Jisung didn’t want to seem petty, but he also really didn’t want to have salt rubbed in his wounds. 

 

“I don’t think I’ll go…” He answered hesitantly, pressing his lips together as he said so. Chenle lifted his eyes towards him as he tried to pour some red liquid into their cauldron. Jisung felt bad, Chenle actually looked kind of sad over it.

 

“Why not? It’ll be so fun!” He tried, accidentally pouring too much of the red liquid before panicking and taking its bottle away. Jisung bit his lip, his eyes blinking away from the other’s gaze. 

 

“Uh.. I just don’t… click with his group. Well, they don’t really like me, actually… It will be really uncomfortable, Chenle.” He admitted, focusing on stirring their potion in the cauldron instead of looking at Chenle. 

 

Chenle had thought for a few long seconds, a curious, long stare remaining on Jisung as he did. He didn’t ask any questions, and Jisung was was glad he didn’t. He’d rather not bring this subject up again if he could choose not to.

 

“Alright, then.” Chenle said, leaving it alone. “I know Jeno is going and he kind of already roped Jaemin and Renjun into it, and well, Yangyang will follow Junnie just about anywhere, so maybe we could just go do something ourselves? You shouldn’t be alone when everyone’s at the game.” He asked quietly. Jisung smiled in response. Chenle was too nice.

 

“Yeah. That’s be cool.” He replied, a bit too enthusiastically. His eyebrows rose as he remembered something. “Wait, is Donghyuck going there too?” He wondered, his nose scrunching up. He knew Donghyuck didn’t mind Mark as much anymore, but he was the main person he’d complain to about the 127 team to still. He wouldn’t go to their game, especially to their side of the crowd.

 

“Wasn’t he going to his hyung that works in the Nurse’s wing? He said the guy was on the quidditch match first aid crew this time. Healing students sure has it hard.” Chenle lamented, and Jisung nodded, a small ‘o’ forming on his lips. Donghyuck did say that. Taeil did have a lot of responsibility as one of the top healing grads, and Donghyuck found it easiest to talk to him during matches he’s on duty. After all, nobody gets really severe injuries... until the second half of the games, at least. 

 

“Right? I wouldn’t go for it. It’s literally a job with no pay. I still don’t know why Nana wants to do it.” Jisung clicked his tongue in disapproval. He still thinks Jaemin is a dummy. He wants to be a doctor but says being an auror is a terrible job. Jisung thinks its stupid, that Jaemin has every single connection he needs to get the position easily and he shrugs it away just like that. But whatever, it’s not his problem. “You wanna go to the clearing I told you about back then? We wouldn’t have anything else to do anyway, and nobody checks on the students when there are matches.” 

 

“Yeah, sure!” Chenle smiled at him and came a bit closer. “Just keep it quiet from the others, okay? Kun will lose it if he knew I’m going out of the castle.” He whispered, his eyes going to Renjun and Yangyang, that stared at the two of them. Jisung gave an affirmative sound, his eyes lingering on the two as well. Renjun and Yangyang both gave them a weird look, questioning them.

 

Chenle stuck his tongue out, provoking both of them with his grin.

 

Jisung just had to laugh.

 

-

 

“Something is seriously wrong.” Taeyong announced to him, a crumpled letter in his hand. Yuta was trying to nap - he was exhausted after the quidditch practice. They are up against some tough competitors and Taeyong being the harsh leader he was, he didn’t let any of them rest for a minute. Yuta felt bad for poor Jungwoo - he had been speed brooming for three hours before they were finally able to rest.

 

“What is it this time? Tae, if this about the upgraded broomstick you saw Ogimura sporting the other day, I promise you that he only got it because his parents are loaded with money. He has been bragging about it even before you got here." He attempted in reassuring him. Taeyong was way too stressed recently, every little thing spiked him. Yuta was sincerely worried at this point.

 

"Who gives a crap about Ogimura's broom? he can't fly for shit anyway. I'm talking about Jongdae-hyung's letter." Taeyong snapped, but Yuta didn't really mind it. He found it kinda of funny whenever Taeyong found it in himself to curse, and it rarely happened to begin with. He only registered what Taeyong actually said after a few snorts.

 

"Jongdae? You mean your therapist-dad?" He questioned. Taeyong sighed almost immediately.

 

"He's not my therapist dad- ugh. Nevermind. Listen, he wrote me back, and he told me that I shouldn't look into Jisung's case. Apparently some higher up even warned him and he's worried. This is seriously insane, Jisung is a kid! What do they have to hide already?" He fumed, his hand squishing the letter's side to the point of even slightly tearing it.

 

Yuta thought to himself. It has been a long time since he met Jisung, but even he will admit Jisung's situation had been weird. The headmaster had told him they took him in early because he had no place to go to, but even then, in most cases he would've been sent to the Ministry's to find him a foster home, the same process Taeyong went through. It struck him as odd, but if the school already accepted him, he guessed it made sense to just place him in a dorm. He wasn't going to be much with his foster family anyway.

 

Now that he thinks back on it, it really didn't make sense. Since when Korea's government ever let Japanese people take care of their wizards? Just ten years ago there was a ban that didn't allow Mahoutokoro take in Korean people. 

 

"Honestly, there were always rumors about how Jisung is supposedly a teacher's son. Like since last year, people always gossiped and said he got perks like extra flying classes and a room for himself because of that. I don't see why it would affect his spot on the quidditch team, but…" Yuta tried to come up with a possible reason, but he thought he might be getting ahead of himself. Taeyong looked at him, appalled.

 

“Are you serious? You knew all of that and you never told me?” He practically shouted, and Yuta glared at him. 

 

“Those were rumors! Was I supposed to gossip around and ruin the kid’s reputation? And I always thought it was stupid, who the hell would even be his father?” Yuta barked back. Taeyong pouted, knowing he couldn’t really fault that logic. His index finger went on his chin as he tried to think. Yuta felt his anger subside. With Taeyong looking like a curious kitten, he could only keep his anger for so long.

 

Taeyong suddenly came back to reality with a gasp. If he was an animated character, Yuta was sure he would have a light bulb lit above his head. “Wait, you always said… That professor Takanashi had kept a closer eye on him, no?” He suggested, and Yuta’s eyes widened, suddenly realizing something.

 

“....Taeyong?” He looked at him, and the other let out a tiny, nervous  _ ‘yes?’  _ that really made him wonder if they both even wanted the words to come out of his mouth. “Didn’t one of the staff say once that Professor Takanashi’s wife died in a quidditch match?” 

 

Taeyong’s shocked expression grew to panicked.

 

“There’s no way. They look nothing alike! Why would he give him the name Park Jisung? Why send him to Korea? Why even keep quiet about him? Somebody must have known…” Taeyong tried to make sense of it, but Yuta just kept on having flashbacks, to history of magic, to the days they taught them about the Blood Wars.

 

“I think… Jisung’s age matches up with the Blood Wars days. Back then there were so many sanctions and punishments on half-bloods the government even threatened to take away children… I was lucky that Osaka didn’t have those things, but other prefectures suffered so much…” Yuta said, his hands on top of his head.

 

“I don’t believe it. Jisung is so sad nowadays and he never cared! and he  _ hates  _ professor Takanashi, for a good reason! He always makes him feel bad. There must be something else. There’s got to be another solution…” Taeyong tried to convince himself, and seeing Taeyong so distraught, Yuta felt like he had to do something. This is going to bother him for weeks if it’s not taken care of.

 

“Listen, I don’t think I should tell you this, but the office that decides who’s going to get in Mahoutokoro...they have records, on all of the students. Families, background, blood heritage, age, and all… It’s all written there. If we can find a way to get in…”

 

“We find the truth about everything.” Taeyong completed his sentence, and the glint in his eyes already made Yuta regret telling him, but there was no going back.

 

They had a long investigation in front of them. The said office wasn’t a public place, and was hidden in the castle so no one unwelcomed could find it and leak who is written to be accepted, as well for the fact it had enough information that students would not like to be known for.

 

_ I should probably already kiss my prefect badge goodbye…  _ He thought. But honestly… he couldn’t care less. 

 

_ If Taeyong would be happy again… so be it. _

 

-

 

It was after school hours, and Jeno found himself waiting for his tutors in front of their dorm. All of the fifth years were terrifying to him, looking at him as if he had daggers hidden on him, and he knew that both of his tutors said he should just ask for them, but even if he tried to start up a conversation, they all just squinted their eyes at him and left without saying a word. 

 

So Jeno just stood there, a little bit horrified, but much more stubborn that he used to be.  _ Think of your friends, think of your friends, think of… _

 

He chanted encouragements in his head, replaying things Mark and Jaemin told him beforehand in his mind. He managed to calm down slightly, but he did feel his stress starting to affect him. Lengthening fangs and heightened senses were a part of the factor, but he just kept his mouth shut and stayed at his place.  _ They know they are supposed to meet me. It’ll be okay. _

 

His breathing halted for so long, until he managed to hear Doyoung calling him, outside of a big door that led to his room. It looked like he had been there for a while. His big eyes locked on Jeno, and he could see his front teeth biting his lip in dismay, lip corners curled. He came up to him quickly, nearly losing his grip on the thick books he had in his hand.

 

“I should’ve known to get you. Most of my grade is compiled of assholes… I thought it’d be okay because they are nice to Jaehyun… but then again, he’s a damn veela.” He ranted, his frown apparent on his face. Jeno felt a bit relieved; he thought for a second he was the one that made Doyoung upset. Regardless of how people looked at him, knowing that somebody was mad  _ for him  _ was nice.

 

He looked around, trying to find Jaehyun, but he wasn’t around. A pang of disappointment hit him before he even got himself to question why he wasn’t there. If the rest like Jaehyun, does it mean he is like them? Luckily for him, Doyoung was more than willing to rant a little more.

 

“Don’t bother, he had quidditch practice up until like… ten minutes ago. He told me he’d just meet us in the astrology tower near the second quidditch field. I swear I’m going to kill him if he stinks. Some of those guys after quidditch just smell like farting skunks.” He rambled. Jeno had a tight grin on his face, trying not to laugh at the comparison. He did remember now that Mark’s team had a practice today, Mark himself must’ve just left for home. It makes sense that Jaehyun wasn’t here.

 

And with his experience from seeing Mark coming back from one of his practice days, he could indeed confirm, they did smell like skunks. Maybe even somewhat worse. But certainly better smelling than something like garlic, or other things like that.

 

“Come on, lets get it moving. I have some tricks to show you with astrology.” Doyoung smiled at him, and started walking ahead. Jeno obliged happily, following after him. It wasn’t a particularly long walk, since the astronomy tower was purposefully placed near the dorms. For the older students, the class is always at night, so they had decided to build it closer to their rooms.

 

They had an outdoor bridge between the dorms and the astronomy tower, that had staircase swirling around it until its very peak. Jeno was still learning astronomy himself in the class within the tower, but he had known that once a year, for the last exam of the class, they will be required to stay for one night at the school and do it at the very peak.

 

It made him a bit excited to think he’s going to see the top of the tower before the rest of his classmates. Doyoung huffed at the amount of stairs they had to go through. “If we weren’t in a wizarding school, this class would have to be P.E.” he grunted, forcing his legs up the stairs. Jeno didn’t particularly mind. With his house being in practically nowhere, he was kind of used to long walks.

 

When they finally reached the peak of the tower, Jeno felt the wind hitting him, the breeze so strong he had to shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he was welcomed by the most beautiful view of the island. He could see the Quidditch field from behind him, the everchanging bridges that from the school and the woods from the front, the far off beach and its waters that sparkled as the sun shone on them. His mouth fell open at the sight.  _ I lived in a island my whole life… how does it look so different here? _

 

Doyoung chuckled at the sight of his wonder, and Jeno withdrawn into himself. He couldn’t help it! Compared to his gloomy, monochrome island he called a home, the vibrant colors and the dynamic breeze made the world feel  _ alive.  _ It was so different, and Jeno was so, so, glad he found himself back at the school.

 

“You should set your eyes on the prize, Jeno. It’s these things that you want to get to know better.” Doyoung said, his hand patting some kind of a telescope that was attached to the side of the tower. It was made out of bronze, the reddish brown colors of it glinting despite the rust of overuse that was found. Jeno gave him a skeptical look. 

 

“Don’t look at me like that! If you want to be at the top of your class, knowing how to deal with the telescopes is important. I promise you that if you learn how to use them, your entire class will be jealous at the day of your exam.” He said enthusiastically, and although Jeno didn’t care for being the best in his class, he appreciates that Doyoung believes he could be. He gives him a shy nod, coming closer to the telescope he was just introduced to.

 

His hand reached out for the object, feeling smooth metal underneath his fingertips. If he checked the sky now, he would have nothing to see; it was still day, after all, but Doyoung seemed set on getting him a head start for the practical exam.

 

“I know they give you the like hand-held versions in class, but this is totally different. Different structure and stuff, you gotta hold it in a certain way and operate it right. And yeah, it’s day now, but these things are enchanted to make you see things much closer, so you can still see a little bit. Practice makes perfect anyways.” Doyoung taught as if he was a teacher himself. Jeno followed him just barely, before he took his hands and showed him how to hold the telescope correctly.

 

“We’ll go through the list of stars after, and I’ll show you how to find them easily, but for now just get used to using the telescope.” He said, and Jeno nodded, a bit tense. He looked through the eye-hole, and saw the little bit Doyoung was talking about. It was really not apparent enough for a class, but he could work with it. 

 

Doyoung was adjusting his hold and showing him how to angle the telescope when a loud  _ ‘hey!’  _  came from the front of them, and something suddenly got in the view of the telescope so quickly Jeno literally jumped away from it in surprise. 

 

“If being late and scaring the kid is how you plan on becoming the favorite, I think you have problems in your plan.” Doyoung called out, and Jeno lifted his head to see Jaehyun, sitting on his broom, just hovering above them. He looked plain exhausted, carrying some kind of suitcase and keeping some broomsticks stuck between his hand to his side. 

 

“Shut up, Doyoung.” He groaned at the other as he found his way to the floor, then shifting his eyes to Jeno. “I’m sorry I’m late, Jeno. My teammates held me back at practice, and it’s my turn to return all of the equipment, so… yeah. I came in as fast as I could.” He apologized. Jeno shook his head shyly.

 

“It’s okay. Doyoung-hyung helped me a lot in astronomy while we waited.” He smiled up to him, and even though Doyoung seemed mildly pleased with what he said, his expression changed quickly, his brows furrowing. 

 

“It’s the first full sentence I’ve heard from you today and it’s for him?” He looked almost insulted, but the curled edges of his mouth told him it’s a joke, so Jeno just laughed it off awkwardly. Jaehyun rolled his eyes at Doyoung very obviously, and Jeno felt a bit claustrophobic between the two of them as tension grew.

 

“Maybe if you didn’t talk his ear off he’d have time to say something, Doie.” Jaehyun responded easily. Jeno sucked his lip in, wishing he could just kindly slip away from the situation, but luckily enough, they seemed to both notice his discomfort. Doyoung just huffed and grabbed one of the books he brought about constellations and their meaning.

 

“Yeah, whatever. At least I’ll get him some A’s on tests.” He opened the thick book, remaining on a few of its first pages. “Jeno, let’s go over the aquila constellation. You’d probably have it on your exam.” He shoved the open book towards him. Jeno was flustered but grabbed it as he glanced at the two. He honestly didn’t find astronomy to be that interesting, but he just complied. He didn’t know how many subject he’d be able to pass this year anyway, might as well try hard at what’s easy.

 

“Constellations are so basic, Doyoung, they barely ask about them. Come on, they always put astronomy as the last exams, give him something  _ fun  _ to do.” Jaehyun said, shaking his head from Doyoung’s choice. The other glared at him, but held back, releasing one huff before answering.

 

“What should we do then, Jaehyun? I’m sure you have  _ a great _ idea.” Doyoung said pointedly, challenging the other in a way. Jaehyun smirked at him back.

 

“Well, if I already brought all the equipment… why don’t we try some Quidditch?” He suggested, his eyebrow raised. Doyoung gave him a deadpanned stare, and was about to say something, but was beat to it. Jeno raised his head from the heavy book he had in his hands.

 

“Hyung, I can’t… I don’t know how to fly. I.. I can’t get brooms to listen to me…” He looked shamefully at the floor. Jaehyun probably expected better from him knowing he was a friend of Mark, but he really was no good at flying. He didn’t know why, but couldn’t bring himself to look at Jaehyun. It was just so embarrassing.

 

Doyoung looked at him sadly. He could hear Jaehyun’s small  _ ‘oh’.  _ His hand reached Jeno’s head, as if saying ‘it’s okay’, messing up his hair with his long fingers. Jeno still felt bad, for both his upperclassmen and himself - he wanted to be better. He wanted it so badly, but he had never known how to be, and never had anyone that believe he could better himself.

 

“Bring me that broom, Jaehyun. We’ll get Jeno used to flying.” Doyoung said confidently, and Jeno snapped his head up in seconds.  _ But I can’t! _

 

“Woah, Kim Doyoung being likeable? A sight to see.” Jaehyun grinned, throwing one of the brooms he had on him to Doyoung. Doyoung glared at him, but quickly got himself on top of the broom, looking at Jeno.

 

“I really, really can’t fly, hyung! Please..” Jeno almost begged, eyeing worriedly at the other broom Jaehyun had on him.

 

“You don’t need to, I’ll fly it. Just hop on, I’ll make sure you are okay.” He said, urging the other to get on the broom as well. Jeno hesitated, but in a rare case of cooperation between the two, Jaehyun came closer to help Jeno up to behind Doyoung, showing him the right form.

 

Jaehyun pulled out some of the quidditch equipment he had locked in some sort of suitcase, throwing the beater's bat at Doyoung. The other looked at him, appalled. 

 

"Jung Jaehyun, if this is an excuse to get a bludger to hit me I'll fucking-" He started screeching, but Jaehyun waved him off, cutting his words.

 

"If I wanted to hit you, I wouldn’t make the bludger do it for me.” He replied dismissively, still bent over the suitcase as he released the bludger into the air, getting on his own broom seconds later with another bat in his hand. The vicious ball already decided to aim at Doyoung and Jeno, and only with sheer luck as well as quick thinking Doyoung was able to actually move in time. 

 

“I’M GOING TO END YOU!” screamed Doyoung at the other, and Jeno wouldn’t admit it, but he screeched so loud he probably sounded like a dying animal. His hands clasped around Doyoung as they flew away, his face hidden in the back of his shoulder. He could feel the air rushing against his skin as Doyoung flew around, and barely brought himself to open his eyes when he finally understood at what speed they were going.

 

When he did open his eyes, he could see Jaehyun beating away the bludger from them. It was strange; he knew Jaehyun to be a chaser, but he seemed so attentive to the ball and what it was doing as if he’d been a beater his entire life. The bludger was knocked far, far away, into the quidditch field, and he thought they lost the ball, but…

 

Doyoung, made his intentions clear about Jaehyun, went after him. And of course - Jaehyun already raced towards the ball. Jeno screamed as they both descended down towards the field, Doyoung having zero empathy for him.  _ All I wanted was to pass potions, I don’t want to die! _

 

The bludger found its way back to them, and Jeno was ready to break his own face, but Doyoung seemed prepared. Jeno doesn’t know if he was just furious enough to literally  _ yeet  _ the ball out of sight, but he hit it so hard with the bat the ball flew back to the the three goal rings, shooting right into the middle one. 

 

He has no idea how Doyoung has done it, they were mid-flight and he probably could barely open his eyes, but he did. It was ironic as hell, because between a vampire, a veela, and him, Doyoung looked like he was the superhuman one.

 

Jaehyun looked at Doyoung both shocked and impressed, a bit smile stretching on his face, with his dimples showing as a sign of genuine happiness. “Woah, Doyoung, mind ditching being a prefect and be one of our beaters?” He asked, his voice all too knowing and teasing for Jeno to believe Doyoung will take it as a compliment.

 

“What, so you could try to steal my prefect badge? You already lost that one, Jaehyun.” He answered pridefully, only for Jaehyun to roll his eyes. They seemed to have some major staring contest going on, and Jeno didn’t really know what to do, with him floating on a broom in mid air and clinging to Doyoung for dear life.

 

Jeno looked to the side again, to landscape of the island as silence fell on the three boys. The scary part was over, and he was able to see the world as if he was free. Not restrained by his inabilities, finally seeing the world as a real wizard. 

 

The wind in his hair, his balance on the broom, his ability to see things he would have known of otherwise - like the owls returning back from the forest, or those people that hung out in the quidditch bleachers during midday, all those things… it made him believe, that if he’s already here, maybe he could be here one day by himself.

 

“A BLUDGER INCOMING!” Someone yelled from afar, and Jaehyun and Doyoung immediately moved, alerted.

 

Jeno screeched as they speed flew away from it.

 

_ In time, I’ll get there. _

 

-

 

It was the day of the last Quidditch match. 

 

Taeil heard so many people feeling sorry for him, having to spend the day in the nurse’s wing while the entire school is out, watching the most important game of the season. Only few people knew Taeil didn’t particularly mind being on healing duty today, and even less knew that he actually suggested himself for the role.

 

The last few weeks were harsh. He didn’t feel very comfortable at the 6th years dorms anymore, he was feeling more and more sad as time passed by. He never talked about his fight with Yuta and the rest of 127 to anyone, and it was slowly eating him inside. 

 

Taeil didn’t have many friends. He had Kim Doyoung, a guy from a year beneath him that was pretty nice. He kind of have a friend named Kim Jungwoo, but he never had the time to talk to him lately - he recently  _ joined  _ 127, as their new seeker. Taeil was slightly worried by that, and couldn’t find himself initiate a conversation knowing that Jungwoo might have just heard the rest of his team speaking ill of him. Taeil also had a cute underclassman by the name of Lee Donghyuck, that he got only by sheer accident.

 

All those three were not a possible option for him to go to while talking about team 127. Doyoung, with how much Taeil liked him, was by far the most confrontational person Taeil has ever met - should he even mention something about team 127, he’ll probably call them out publicly. Taeil didn’t want that attention, neither did he want his friend to get hurt. It’s not beyond Doyoung to fight with an entire team of students, and if he tries, he’s sure to only get the worst from it.

 

Jungwoo was currently a part of 127. He only recently joined, and before that, sat a lot with Taeil and Doyoung. He never heard about their qualms with the team, so Taeil couldn’t blame him. He was only a 3rd year that looked up to his favorite quidditch team in the school. Taeil couldn’t shatter that imagination, nor did he want to - as far as he knew, team 127 actually treated him well. He didn’t want Jungwoo to lose friends only because he doesn’t get along with them.

 

Donghyuck… he was a different case. He was there, when the fight happened, but they never raised the topic again. More because of Taeil rather than Donghyuck. He didn’t want the younger to get involved with it. The younger kids already enough Quidditch drama, they don’t deserve any more. In general, he didn’t want to rant to a child, as much as he liked him, it just wasn’t fair to Donghyuck to deal with his problems.

 

Taeil sighed. He could’ve probably screamed his heart out if he was allowed out of this room, but Miss Kenko will probably yell at him for being disruptive. He didn't want to have it on his head as well.

 

The doors to the infirmary were flung open, only to reveal Donghyuck escorting in Johnny Seo with his hand on his back, as the older student clutched his own hand in pain while limping into the room. 

 

He was expecting to see Donghyuck, because he had told him ahead of time that he will come next time he's on rotation, but he had not expected to see Johnny, 127’s star keeper with a broken hand.  _ They are like ten minutes into the game, what is he doing here? How the fuck? _

 

“Hyung, I found you your first patient for today!” Donghyuck shouted brightly at him, and with the shock written all over Taeil’s face so apparent, even his underclassman couldn’t help but laugh. Miss Kenko brought rushed to examine him, grabbing his hand a bit to strong, making the tall student yelp in pain.

 

“This is no good. No good at all. You broke your arm in two places! And what happened to your leg?” She asked, but it sounded more like she was scolding him, clicking her tongue. 

 

“Fell from the broom onto the hoop and then to the bottom of the field…” He groaned, aching all over. He hissed as he moved, and Taeil honestly cringed as he watched him fighting with his pain. It had to be agonizing. The hoops are really high up, and if you actually managed to fall from there to the ground… Well, they’ll have to check if he has a concussion, too. Taeil had to admire Johnny for actually walking his way to here. Most people he know wouldn’t be sturdy enough to be even conscious. 

 

Miss Kenko lowered herself to look at his leg, touching the dark, bruised part underneath his calve, nearly pinching it. Johnny hissed in pain once again, and had to hold on to Donghyuck in order to not fall to the floor. Miss Kenko gasped, and raised herself back up, hands on her hips.

 

“Boy, go lay down in the bed! I’m convinced your tendon is ruptured if not completely torn! I’m going to have to brew a potion for that to heal properly… My goodness, you really managed to rough yourself up!” She said, coming over to his free side and rushing him into one of the beds of the infirmary. Johnny groaned through it all, and it was not a pretty sight to see. Johnny never complained, about anything, really. He was truly in pain and his face was showing it. 

 

“Taeil! Start working on his arm, you know the drill for broken bones. I’ll come back in an hour or so, when the potion is done. I hope you are ready to be here for a few good days, dear. We’ll have to review your stats as well.” Miss Kenko’s voice commanded the room completely until the clicking of her heels took over, stomping away to their potion labs. Taeil sighed as she walked out. Her intensity was no joke.

 

He came up to Johnny, who seemed to have a rough time with all of the noise. He felt bad for him. Johnny was admittedly one of the nicer people he knew, regardless of his association to 127. His apology back when Yuta fought with him was the only thing that kept Taeil at bay, after that mess of a day ended. He felt like he was ought to treat him well after that.

 

“...May I have your hand?” Taeil asked hesitantly, his wand already pulled out and ready to fix the other’s hand. Johnny reddened, and slowly gave it away as Donghyuck snickered at the side. He shot a warning look at him, but Donghyuck only bit his lips, not being able to hide away his smile. It didn’t seem like Johnny noticed though, he was still looking at Taeil, trying to move his hand towards him as painlessly as possible.

 

Taeil took his hand gently, letting the other’s palm rest above his own. Their fingers grazed against each other, and Taeil didn’t know how to feel when Johnny’s fingers moved against his own, slowly getting comfortable as their found their place within his smaller hand. Taeil blinked away his thoughts. He shouldn’t be hung up over these things. Sometimes touch was just necessary.

 

“I’m going to begin with a spell to fix your bone. It’ll be.. painful, but bear with me, and it’ll be quick.” Johnny nodded slightly, and tried to straighten his arm forward with little avail as he winced in pain. Taeil appreciated the gesture, knowing that he was trying to help. Johnny has always been like this, an overachiever.  It was unnecessary… but it still been a nice thought.

 

_ “Refectio.”  _ Taeil blurted out, a shining light running out of his wand. Johnny immediately tensed up, whining in pain. His hand now grabbed onto Taeil’s as he desperately searched on something else to focus on as his bones were repairing themselves within him. Taeil, in a moment of both mercy and urgency, squeezed his hand hard, trying to fulfil the other’s wish. His heart gave a leap when Johnny’s fingers suddenly curled into his own.

 

The bone repair spell was never one that took too long, and Taeil didn’t take his time on Johnny now, but he had to admit he had spent a few more seconds than necessary out of shock. His lips went dry - he was really overthinking things, and it will cost him more than his pride if he won’t stop.

 

“...That’s it.” Taeil said, letting his arm go gently by laying it on the bed, trying to make him feel a little better with a smile. “You handled it really well.” He praised. He couldn’t imagine Johnny was having a good day, it was a very important match he was just losing for an injury. Taeil hoped he could make him feel a little better just like he did back with the bludger incident.

 

Johnny grinned, his eyes crinkling up in the most kid-like fashion. He didn’t seem like someone who just fell from his broom and nearly broke half of his body. “It’s because you healed me.” He blurted. Taeil’s eyes widened a bit but he gained control of his body rather quickly, just as quickly as Johnny sinking back into his pillow, looking away.

 

Donghyuck coughed, and moved away to stand beside him. Taeil found himself trapped in a forced side hug by the younger, who was cheery as always. “Taeil-hyung is the best, isn’t he?” Donghyuck said, nearly shaking the two of them from side to side. For such a young kid, Donghyuck surely had a strong grip. He looked like he was almost  _ teasing  _ the older.

 

Johnny didn’t reply, but laughed a little. Taeil looked at the floor, his eyes fixated on the ground. It wasn’t bad, holding Johnny’s hand. He couldn’t expect for much more of it, but he guessed that’s just how life is like to him.

 

_ It’s unnecessary, to overthink like this… but the thought, it is nice. _

 

-

 

Chenle walked through the paths of the sunlit woods, his heart pounding within his chest. He just sprinted away from the quidditch bleachers that were filled with students to the very brim. He heaved as he steadied his breathe. He felt bad he had to lie to Xiaojun like that, telling him he was going to watch the game with Renjun and Yangyang alongside the younger students. But he didn’t want to disappoint Jisung and not to come, especially since he really wanted to see that clearing.

 

Jisung always raved about how he was lead into the clearing by some cool wisps, showing him the way. Chenle wasn’t all that sure if he wasn’t bluffing, but Jisung did tell him that the place is usually only open to older students, and Chenle would sure like to join him in being one of the only younger students that actually visited there.

 

Overall, he had the idea of where he was supposed to go. First, he needed to go to that spot in the woods that he went with Renjun and Yangyang. Then, it’s basically navigating through the woods (basically walking forward on and on, Jisung instructed). Jisung said he wouldn’t enter the clearing until he’s there, so he isn’t lost, so he didn’t really have a reason to worry about the location.

 

Chenle felt like he can trust Jisung. Maybe it was naive demeanor or the quiet, meek attempts in interacting with him even when it wasn’t allowed, or even just the feeling of a true friend that for once  _ he  _ had found for himself, but… he just felt like there was nothing to worry about. 

 

The woods he was in were becoming a bit more repetitive, but he kept an open mind. He just arrived at the area he had been to before, and from now on, it’s basically walking straight. He exhaled loudly at the long walk. Maybe next time Chenle should suggest meeting up in their dorms. It would be funny, seeing Jisung reacting to Ten’s collection of snakes, or the amount of potion ingredients that stinked up Xiaojun’s room. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out how Hendery could tolerate standing in either of those places, but he guessed that’s what strong friendship does to you.

 

Midway thinking, he heard a rustle from behind him. He immediately turned back, suddenly his heart once again speeding up, and not due to him running around. Nothing was there, nothing that he could see. He looked around, and something that looked like a squirrel from the top, sitting on a branch. He sighed. He really got scared over a squirrel. Even Jisung is not that much of a scaredy cat.

 

_ Jisung. Right.  _ He huffed and walked forward, just like his friend told him. There were more and more trees in every step, the world becoming an endless loop of thin, grayish colored trees that refused to give the sun any room to shine on the forest floor. He noticed they were getting taller and taller as he kept walking.

 

Once again there was a noise from behind. Another rustling, as well as some cracking of dead leaves covering the earth. Chenle’s gulped, and his pace quickened. He really hated it, but he was scared of the slightest noises. He’d rather fill the room with his own voice and brightness, just not hear what is lurking in the dark, what is waiting to get to him. He was scared, and more than likely for nothing, but…

 

He couldn’t help it. 

 

He forced himself to breathe more steadily, just like how Kun taught him to do when he was scared. His hand was holding onto his wand pouch for extra reassurance.  _ It will be fine, don’t worry, everything’s okay… _

 

Chenle looked back again. There was nothing there, but the leaves on the floor…  _ they moved.  _ They were not like this a second ago. 

 

Shivers ran down his back, and he did his best to surpass them, not succeeding as well as he wanted. He looked back forward, and saw a glinting, red light floating around the air in front of him. His eyes widened in front of him. “Huh…?” He said to himself, surprised.  _ Are those the wisps Jisung spoke about?... _

 

He followed it, as if it was destiny calling. More and more red dots appeared in his way as he kept going, shining all in their turn, like fireflies that refused to leave him alone. After a short while, Chenle finally heard something. 

 

“Uh-huh.” a short voice cleared his throat. It was a bit deep and Chenle smiled.  _ Yes! Finally, I found him…. _

 

“Jisungie!” He lit up, looking to his side, to where the voice was from. His grin stretched from one ear to another. Focusing on the other beside him, he suddenly realized, that Jisung seemed a lot taller than what he was.

The corners of his lips fell, his mouth slowly gaping. Before he had any time to figure out what was going on, the person, who he had just realized was a strange man, probably around his thirties, stepped forward. 

 

_ “Zhong.”  _ He emphasised, the smirk on his face unnatural and closer to a maniacal smile than any display of true happiness. He had a wand in his hand, and Chenle’s lip started quivering.  _ No. No, no, no!  _ He opened his wand pouch quickly, fumbling with it until he managed to get it in his hands. Both of his palms were attached to the handle, pointing at the unfamiliar wizard.

 

“Easy prey, when you are alone… aren’t you?” The man said, and lifted his own wand quickly. It was almost in slow motion for Chenle. He started chanting a spell, and Chenle saw a glaring, flickering bursts of red from his side.  _ The wisps! _

 

Chenle ran at the direction, and just barely avoided a green curse that was shot at him. He sprinted through the trees, looking for any more signs from the wisps as he went. The other wizard following him, mocking him as he shot more and more spells, clearly not aimed to hit exactly.  _ He was playing with him, and was laughing while he did it. _

 

Shrilly screams escaped Chenle every time he witnessed a spell bursting a tree behind him, and he did the only thing he could think of. Back when there were a lot of attempted assassinations on him, Kun taught him how to release sparks to the air. He told him to always release green sparks, if he’s in danger. He lifted his wand up mid-run, his fear fueling him instead of common sense, and released as many sparks as he could to the sky.

 

He didn’t even notice his surroundings at this point, all that mattered was to keep moving. For every footstep Chenle heard he ran three steps, his wits all gone. His cheek got sliced by some stray branch of a tree, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.  _ Just escape. Just leave, leave, leave!! _

 

Another surprising, gleaming red light appeared right in front of him, and Chenle fell, his knees hitting the floor and his head headbutted painfully against a tree trunk that stood in his way.  _ I’m done for, I’m going to die, I’m so sorry Kun-ge, I’m so sorry…. _

 

He turned his back to the trunk of the tree, positioning it against it. The ugly face of his enemy became clear. A man with a sharp nose and and a mole near his eyebrow stood in front of him, not even bothering hurrying up to him, just chortling a sick laugh, approaching Chenle slowly with his eyes fixated on him in a way he could almost see his corpse reflecting in them. 

 

“And to think they spent so much time on keeping you alive. One would’ve hoped you’d at least be worth the effort.” He mocked, his deep voice now intimidating, making Chenle trying to get further back into the tree, hoping it would swallow him whole.  _ I don’t want to die, I don’t…. _

 

The man inched closer, kicking at Chenle’s feet, stomping on his ankle as the younger yelped in pain, trying to get away from him. Everything hurt, everything was noisy, he was sure he could hear the entire forest and all of its tiniest sounds that only worsened as they overloaded his ears.

 

“It hurts, right?” The man asked, and Chenle refused to look at him, until the other lifted his feet up in the air and crashed his feet against his ankle again. Chenle cried out in pain.  _ “It hurts, RIGHT?”  _ he questioned again, and Chenle, despite the tears slipping from his eyes looked at him and nodded fervently.

 

“Good. I never thought killing you with a spell would be satisfying. It’ll be much more interesting to see the rest of you wretched family reacting to their little china doll being all broken.” He said. Chenle closed his eyes. This is the time. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe, and he resigned to his fate.

 

He was limp yet he was shivering as he waited for the next blows. He already seen the man lifting his leg to kick once again, god knows where to now. He couldn’t find in himself to even lift his arm to protect himself. He was shaking like the leaves that surrounded him on the ground - the weakness already overtook him.

 

A loud scream was heard throughout the entire forest. 

 

Chenle opened his eyes. The sight he had seen was something that he never, ever want to think of, never wanted to imagine. Something was battling that man - something Chenle could not see. But his clothes got shredded and his skin got bruised, and he bled, and bled, nonstop. It was as if it was happening from itself, and Chenle’s heart pounded in his chest from fear, suddenly crying for real, tears of stress that went down his cheeks even without prior wails.

 

It didn’t stop until half of the man’s chest was open, a puddle of blood surrounding what Chenle now assumed was a corpse. He closed his eyes again. He knew what happened now, but he never imagined first seeing death like this. He didn’t want to understand, but he already knew. This man died, like the many assassins that came before him.

 

The only difference was that this time, Chenle saw it happening.

 

“Deo! Beul! What are you doing, I told you I’m supposed to wait for a… friend…” Jisung’s voice echoed through the forest. His voice slowly went quieter, but this… this was Jisung. Jisung was there. He isn’t alone anymore, he’s not alone. Chenle hesitantly opened his eyes.

 

What he saw in front of him, was the most hideous form of a winged horse he had ever seen. A gaunt, hollow face stared right at him. Chenle had to hold himself from screaming as it drew closer, only to notice there were two of those things, their other one still focused on the body of the man in front of them. The one that was near his face let his tongue out, swiping it across his bruised and bloodied cheek.

 

Chenle couldn’t help it anymore. He burst out crying, curling into himself. His face was in his knees, soaking his trousers as he wept.

 

He felt a large hand on his shoulder, and a body next to him as Jisung sat next to him, gulping at the sight in front of them. “Are you okay?” He asked quietly. He could hear Jisung  _ shooing  _ away the animals in front of them. Whatever it was, Jisung wasn’t scared of these animals. Chenle wished he had that kind of courage in that moment. “W-we, shouldn’t probably stay here…” he stuttered, grabbing Chenle’s hand, trying to make him get up.

 

Chenle, limp and defeated as he was, just compiled as Jisung lifted him up, revealing his ugly crying face and his fear all so openly. Jisung was so taken aback, he looked all around him, even at the animals at time, as if looking for an idea of what to do. With loss of options, Jisung settled on giving Chenle a hug, awkward and tense, but all the like comforting, well intended, and just simply  _ real.  _ He didn’t know if to laugh at Jisung trying to find a place to put his hand on his back, or just keep crying until his tears run dry. 

 

He chose the second option.

 

They stood there for a good few minutes, and Jisung just let him cry as much as he wanted, even if he was just as scared to be here near a dead man. Even if he wanted to escape. Jisung still gave him a shoulder to cry on, even if all his instincts told him to run off and cry himself. Chenle felt in home, not alone against the danger, and he had never felt so grateful to a person aside from maybe Renjun and Kun.  _ Thank you, thank you, thank you….. _

 

“CHENLE! CHENLE, WHERE ARE YOU?” Kun’s voice boomed through the woods, and Chenle lifted his face to most of his ges in the distance.  _ They noticed the sparks.. _

 

“I-I’m here!” He croaked, his voice broken and bent from all the wails and sobbing. He regrettably had to let go of Jisung, but with five boys running towards him, he had to show his face, even if he was red eyed and full of snot. 

 

“You have to be joking…” He could hear Ten saying, shocked at the sight of the forest floor. Kun didn’t even care about the corpse, he might as well be walking on it with how walked through blood. He came to Chenle, inspecting him with both his hands and his eyes, before dragging him into a big bear hug that nearly made him choke.

 

“You are okay…” He said, the relief so apparent in his voice Chenle wanted to cry again, just for worrying him. 

 

“What… what are we going to do?” Chenle asked, scared of the question himself, as he eyed the corpse once again.

 

“We’ll talk to professor Zhang already and see, but…” Kun started, and looked at Chenle up and down, sighing. “Let’s just go back, for today.” He finished, patting Chenle’s head so softly, as if he thought he would break under his fingers.

 

It was only then, that Chenle realized his cousin’s red eyes. 

 

_ I’m sorry, _

 

_ I’m sorry, _

__

_ I’m sorry...  _

 

_ I’m sorry I’m a burden. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW YALL HATE ME AT THIS POINT BUT IT HAD TO BE DONE  
> OOF it was hard to write about all of that... lemme know what you think.  
> ofc, as always twitter is @yanvels and so is my cc!! have a nice day loves


	9. 3rd Year's (is Not) the Charm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY..... i'm so sorry about how late this is! I've had a big writer block for the longest time and I had been sick a lot this month, I'm sososo sorry! I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter, but I hope you'll like it ;; 
> 
> I would like to dedicate this chapter to kristen, and absolute sweetheart that reached out to me and totally motivated me to write again. Thank you so much love, ily!! comments really make all the difference AAAA. her alongside with marinacourage, who always leaves the sweetest commenta ever ily as well, thank you two so much! thank you for supporting the supporting the story, it means whole world aaa
> 
>  
> 
> anyway everyone have a pleasant read!

Jisung hadn’t seen Chenle ever since the incident. 

 

After what happened at the forest, Mahoutokoro announced everyone will be going on summer vacation a week earlier, issuing letters to all of the parents that they will make sure the school is safe for the students before they return. It had all been announced after the last Quidditch game, where team Ukiyo won against team 127 with a difference of 40 points. 

 

That same day had been a nightmare, looking back on it. Jisung couldn’t forget the sight of the tortured body no matter how hard he tried, neither could he get Chenle’s sobs out of his head, but it grew even worse afterwards. After all of Chenle’s schoolmates found him, they were both taken back to the castle, Chenle and his group running to their own dorms while Jisung was caught by professor Takanashi, who took him back to the headmaster.

 

He had never received any explanation to what really happened, but the minute he was in the Headmaster’s office, he had been given cut-throat orders to go back to his room and to not leave under any circumstances. The situation was so tense back at that week that Jisung had begged professor Terada to allow him to leave the castle for Jaemin’s home just like he did last summer, but the professor blatantly refused and never told him  _ why.  _

 

He absolutely hated it. He was stuck in his room twenty four seven, and the only living thing he was allowed to interact with was Suzu, his owl. There were teachers consistently watching his room, and they all stood there as if it was a hot spot for hours on end. What was even worse was that aside from that, the castle was almost completely abandoned, for literal weeks. All of the students were forced to go home aside from him, and people only started returning after three weeks from the incident. The teachers had nothing to do aside from watching him; he felt like he was prisoner in a jail made specifically for him.

 

The only thing that gave him any sort of comfort was being able to talk to Jaemin and Donghyuck via letters. It wasn’t the best method, seeing he could only receive letters around three days after being sent some things, but he guessed it was better than nothing. At least he had something to expect. He could only do so much studying and spell practice.

 

Jisung tried to escape his room many times, but he could only ever manage to do it once. It was a particularly windy day, and the teachers were organizing themselves for something. It had seemed to be important, because even when he was taken to the kitchen to eat by professor Terada, he could see almost every house elf that Mahoutokoro owned going ham with the cleaning, while teachers looked so stressed that even their oddly fancy suits did not help them look professional.   
  
He remembered that day so vividly.

 

“...Why do we have to handle this type of thing? We’re teachers, for heaven's sake! I can’t believe I had to pull out a skirt for a staff meeting….” He could hear professor Maki rambling to some other teacher as she adjusted her black pencil skirt for the third time in a row. Jisung wasn’t sure he had ever seen her with a skirt. She always had a clear preference to sweatpants, but considering that she spent half of her time tending to magical creatures outdoors, he thought that image suited her best. _ She looks so weird like this… why is everyone so weird today? _

 

Jisung lifted his head from his food to look at professor Terada. He was always Jisung’s favorite, he was the nicest teacher out of the staff as well as he always went out of his way to take care of Jisung. Even when he received his food, professor Terada took his time to personalize it a little, taking the mini sausages the house elves had prepared and cut them into tiny octopuses. It made Jisung so happy seeing that. He was so used to see other Mahoutokoro students in his grade bragging about their homemade bentos being so decorated and pretty, but he could never relate even in the slightest. Even if there wasn’t anyone to brag to, he had to admit, it was nice having someone put effort for you.

 

“Professor, why are everyone so dressed up today?” He asked the man, who was sitting beside him, munching on some sunny side up eggs. Professor Terada looked at Jisung, swallowing him food quickly only to cough just as fast. After he finally sorted himself out, he gave Jisung a goofy, embarrassed smile, that suited well with the piece of rice that remained beside the corner of his lip.

 

“Ah, well.. we have important guests today.” He said vaguely, going back to his food despite eyeing Jisung several times, probably in hopes that the he will look away. Unfortunately for him, by now Jisung felt particularly comfortable with him, and he was never known to hold back on the people who are close to him. 

 

“What kind of important guests?” Jisung questioned again, inching closer to his teacher who shut his eyes in dismay. 

 

“Important people from across the continent, Mr. Park.” He tried again, but Jisung frowned at him, his signature pout gracing his lips sourly as if he just ate a lemon.

 

“Why are these important people from across the continent coming here?” He asked again, giving the Professor the best puppy eyes he could make. Professor Terada stared at him blankly, almost irritated, but his expression softened with one hearty sigh.

 

“We’re deciding when to open the school again for students. Granted, younger students won’t be back until the summer vacation is over… but older students are allowed and encouraged to stay and study, so maybe you will see them in the near future.” He explained, digging into his food with his fork. Without noticing, he accidentally pressed too hard, and his plate broke, making some of the egg yolk he had on his plate to quickly drip down to the wooden table, slipping through it until it reached his fancy pants.

 

Jisung watched that disaster as if it was in slow motion, and immediately felt bad when professor Terada threw away his utensils to the table. “I knew I should’ve used the chopsticks…” He could hear the man mutter bitterly, looking at his ruined pants in repressed annoyance that could be detected miles away. Jisung discreetly moved away from the older man, not wanting to either be too close at the moment or get yolk stains on his own clothes.

 

“Uh, thanks for telling me, professor.” He said awkwardly, hoping that the teacher isn’t too annoyed by him. Professor Terada inhaled slowly, calming himself before looking back at Jisung in a tired manner.  _ At least he’s not mad.  _

 

“I need to go change my clothes, so keep close to professor Maki, alright?” He told him, putting his hand on Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung frowned. He didn’t want to be near professor Maki when she was on her complaining streak. He’d rather just be stuck in his room again. They surveyed the entire island already, everything was alright now, why does he always have to stay close to someone?

 

“Don’t give me that face. Right now the headmaster said that we need to be around you, and yeah, there’s nobody to harm you anymore, but right now it’s a part of the rules. It’ll be over soon, don’t worry.” He patted Jisung’s shoulder before coming up from his seat, doing what Jisung thought was a goodbye wave, but actually an alert for professor Maki who was sitting a few seats away.

 

Jisung will admit that more than anything, that decision from professor Terada had been a blessing in disguise. The teacher may have alerted professor Maki, but she had always been a much more  _ laid back  _ teacher than most, what had played well and in Jisung’s favor more often than not, and this time was not an exception. While the woman was chatting with some of the house elves over some food for her magical creatures, Jisung found it more than easy to escape the woman with quick and careful steps, leaving the hall with ease.

 

It wasn’t like he could stray far away as it is, seeing most of the roads out of the castle and into the woods and beyond were blocked until further notice, but the thrill of disobeying was a nice change of pace, one that Jisung could definitely vibe with after a long while of being stuck in his room.

 

He went through the corridors, through halls and ran beyond noisy, snitching paintings that will sell him out for even a slightly better display in the castle. The white jade corridors had always been reflective in their sparkliness, but Jisung found that giving him some anxiety for the first time in his life. He had been a messy person since forever, though, so he probably should be glad he didn’t grow that fear naturally.

 

Later on, he found himself near the entrance of the school, hiding in a dark hallway that led to it. He was more than ready to dive and cross it - his aim was to reach the astrology tower, and try to see the creatures in the forest through the telescope Jeno has spoken of before, but he had no choice but to wait, as the heavy doors of the entrance creaked open, and an assembly of both teachers, elves, and even the headmaster found themselves waiting in front of it.  _ Professor Maki complained all morning about the skirt and she isn’t even here.. _

 

Jisung squinted his eyes for better sight. There had been only two people in the entrance, compared to the twenty plus people who were waiting from the staff. One of them, Jisung did recognize - it was professor Zhang, Chenle’s cool, auror professor. A legend, his friends told him. The other one he couldn’t recognize, but Jisung felt like he was familiar. A tall man with a distinguished face, wearing some sort of uniform with South Korea’s flag embroidered into it. 

 

He wasn’t sure how or when, but… he could have swore he had seen that face before.

 

“Welcome, welcome. It’s good to have you two here, after all that happened these past weeks…. first of all, I must apologize for the lacking security that the school have displayed. You see, since there were always scouters in our Quidditch games, we did not expect-” Headmaster Miyamoto spoke nervously, looking more anxious than Jisung had ever seen him before, and it seemed like he had a reason to be, as well.

 

“Cut it. I’m not here for any excuses. You have promised that Mahoutokoro will be the safest place for my students, and yet somehow the youngest and most important one had to return with bruises to his home because of your incompetence. To assign both me and Qian to that ridiculous game as well… You are lucky my students know how to take care of themselves.” Professor Zhang hissed, particularly the last part. Jisung had to take a few steps back just from how intimidating he looked, staring into his old headmaster’s soul with his sharp glare.

 

The other man coughed, taking center, with his hand on professor Zhang’s shoulder, as if to calm him down. “As for me… You’ve done well for the past two years, I’ll give you that. But you are aware that with the situation being as it is,  _ he  _ shouldn’t have been apart of it, under any circumstance. You know the stakes.” His baritone voice filled the room, calm but judgemental, and most of the staff winced under the silent criticism.  

 

“I assure you, that will never, ever happen again. Mr. Park is right now in his dorms, always guarded, please do not worry. He’s been doing well and we have been trying to keep him out of the public’s eye as much as possible. I do believe the main problem was that he was meeting Mr. Zhong, and the students must’ve have spread the rumor about him being here at their homes. He’s unfortunately a celebrity, to some degree. But I assure you, nobody knows about Mr. Park.” The headmaster explained, his hands constantly moving with his words. 

 

_ They are talking about me?  _ Jisung felt shivers going down his spine, stress piling up on his shoulders.  _ Why are they talking about me? _

 

“Good. Keep his existence here as silent as possible. It’s for the best.” He said seriously. Jisung felt his stomach lurching, he felt like he wanted to puke. The only thing he could gauge out of the conversation was that he was basically being erased, for a reason he doesn’t know. 

 

His mind seemed to have liked it, as he slowly felt the need to disappear, to run away. 

 

At that same moment, a rushing house elf came down the stairs that filled the entrance hall, pulling on professor Terada’s robes. The professor, who up until stood as straight as a board, had lowered his ear to the small worker, who’s eyes were filled with worry and distress. Professor Terada’s eyes shot open over something that was whispered to him, and a tense smile found his way to his face.

 

“Excuse me, Mr. Park apparently had forgotten something in the kitchens when he ate. I’ll go help him  _ get it back.” _ Professor Terada said through gritted teeth, his hand lifted as if he was a student himself. Jisung heart pounded so fast that he could barely breathe.  _ They know I’m not there.  _

 

_ I need to go, I need to go now. _

 

Jisung quietly left the shadowy hallway, going backwards so he wouldn’t be caught. When he was finally out of range for them to hear him, he started running. But even while looking back on it, Jisung didn’t know why.

 

Was he was scared of the possible punishment, or was he scared of the truth?

 

He’d rather still live in his lie.

 

-

 

Doyoung finally felt free. 

 

_ Finally they are allowing us back. Fuck, I thought I’d go insane… _

 

Being with his parents for the past few weeks had been absolute hell. He used to be able to write to Gongmyung all of the time at summer, but since he had been restricted to his family’s house, he wasn’t communicate at all with his brother. 

 

His mother and father were always there, peering over his shoulder to see who is he writing to, what is he doing, where is he going, and most importantly, what is he looking through in his very own home. It was blatant and annoying, and Doyoung considered just asking Taeil if he can come over to his place, but he didn’t want to bother the other too much - he lived in a rather small shack with his mother and even if the two of them were both tiny, there was not much living space to work with.

 

Doyoung was only able to talk with two other students throughout the summer, one of them being of course, Taeil, who was trying and failing at hiding his stupid crush from him, and the other being Jeno, who Doyoung had to work hard in order to receive a permit to write to his coven. It was worth it, though. Jeno was incredibly sweet and appreciative, always ending his letters with words of thanks and indistinguishable drawings to show it. His letters also traditionally came with cat hairs, which his father was allergic to, so whenever his father tried reading his letters, the karma was instant. 

 

Now, he was finally at the magic ministry, ready to get his floo powder and return to school. It was his seventh year at the school and he was chosen to be the representative of his grade, a job otherwise known as head boy. You could only start being head boy when you start living at the dorms, so Doyoung had to try to prove his worth by exams and hard work to show he would fit that role ever since 4th year. When he got the letter that he was chosen to be head boy this year, he was over the moon. It was one of the only good moments the summer has provided.

 

He was extremely happy with himself not only because he got the job, but also because it meant he beat all of the other assholes that said no foreigner would ever be head boy in Mahoutokoro.  _ Suck on that, shitheads.  _ Now he was going to go to Mahoutokoro and enjoy himself in a private dorm room that was reserved for head boys and girls.

 

If he didn’t have any self awareness, maybe he would have puffed his chest up in pride, but unfortunately, he was too self aware and preferred to not look like an idiot in the middle of Seoul’s wizarding hotspot. He kept walking through the crowd. It would be better if he arrives at the school earlier and settle in his new room before they will have this year’s first dinner.

 

“Doie!” a voice called from afar, and Doyoung looked back. A man was making his way through the crowd, his ‘sorry’ and ‘excuse me’ repeated like a mantra as he passed every second person that blocked his way. That man, with his slightly curly hair and proud smile, was his brother, Gongmyung.

 

His brother managed to reach him after a few good glares from several people in the room, and Doyoung couldn’t help but smile. His brother gave him a big hug, one of those that Doyoung was more than willing to return. It has been such a long time since he saw his brother. Too long.

 

“Hyung! How are you? How have you been? I missed you..” Doyoung said, his eyes lighting up as he looked up at his brother that stood a head taller than him. Doyoung couldn’t help but think of how the last time he had seen the other, he was still towering over him, a kid against a fully grown man. Now it seemed to start balancing out - he was getting closer to Gongmyung’s height, and his pride swelled, knowing that the same silhouette he admired for its maturity and independence is now slowly growing similar to his own.

 

“I’m alright, kid. I missed you as well… Head boy, huh? Always knew if someone was going to bring pride to this family, it’ll be you.” Gongmyung chuckled, patting Doyoung’s head as if he was a little kid. Should it had been anyone else, maybe Doyoung would have slapped away the hand, but Gongmyung’s sincere words and the forced lack of presence of his in Doyoung’s life had him receiving it quietly, and maybe even gratefully.

 

“Hyung, you are a trained auror in the ministry, stop saying rubbish..” Doyoung answered sassily, making his brother squint along with furrowed eyebrows. Gongmyung could say whatever he wants, being an auror in the ministry was a hard job that people respected to bits and pieces. A glorified job that could gain you a status of a celebrity, if you got a mission on a big enough scale. Head boy wasn’t a bad title, but it pales in comparison. 

 

“It’s not all glitz and glamour when you get into it, Doie. Try looking for dark wizards who hexed a house only to know a kid did it by accident. It’s incredibly frustrating, I can tell you that.” He explained. Doyoung wasn’t properly convinced, but whatever. He wasn’t going to spend the tiny amount of time he had with his brother arguing. 

 

“I’m actually glad I managed to find you, I actually heard a lot about what happened at the school last year.. I wanted to know, were you okay when that attack happened? Did someone approach you, or anything?” Gongmyung asked, worriedly eyeing Doyoung with some kind of a hinted danger coded to his words. 

 

Doyoung stared at him for a couple of seconds, a bit worried himself now. “No, no one came up to me. All the school was in a game when they announced someone attacked a kid.” Doyoung answered truthfully, his brother nodding his head with a relieved sigh leaving his mouth. 

 

“That’s good, Doyoung.” He said, the head pats sliding off to his shoulder, his brother smiling at him thankfully, even though Doyoung didn’t really know what he was thankful for. “If someone ever does come up to you, and tells you things you know are wrong… no matter who they are, don’t let yourself get swayed.” He said giving Doyoung some sense of dread he hadn’t felt ever since Gongmyung left their home.

 

“Hyung, do I need to expect anything-”

 

“Kim Doyoung!” Someone called from behind him, and Doyoung was stopped mid-sentence only to turn around and see Jung Jaehyun coming towards him with all of his luggage wheeled behind him. Doyoung sighed and physically felt his face forming a frown instantly, his brother laughing at him at the same moment. 

 

“Go to your friend.. there will be a time when we will be able to talk about it, just not today.” Gongmyung said, and Doyoung was about to protest, both that Jaehyun is not his friend, and that they should talk about it today, but Gongmyung forced it to be the finishing words. “I need to go, Doie. I’ll send you a letter soon.”

 

Even if Doyoung was about to talk, his mouth shut rather quickly as he saw Gongmyung already leaving, waving away. All he could do is stare at him in a wistful, melancholic feeling as he left. The first time he sees his brother in almost three years, and it was gone in a blink of an eye.

 

Jaehyun came up to him, with a gummy smile that showed both of his dimples. “I heard you were chosen to be head boy? I guess my quidditch lesson last year scored you some points, huh?”

 

He hated Jung Jaehyun.

 

"Fuck you." Doyoung said, before power walking to the floo powder platform. 

 

Doyoung will relish in that shocked expression on Jaehyun's face until the very end of the year.

 

-

 

Yangyang didn't appreciate people doubting him. 

 

It had been the first week of the year, and they had been given the permit to return back to Mahoutokoro right on time, something Yangyang was extremely grateful for. He had spent the summer at the Zhong's estate and Chenle did  _ not  _ stop whining for a second, talking about how it was extremely unfair it was that he was being tossed out of a school because someone tried to rough him up.

 

Only once his parents told him he was allowed to come back he toned down, and even then the rest of the summer days were filled with him yapping about how he’s going to see Jisung and the rest again. Yangyang’s ears were adjusted to Chenle’s noise, but even he felt like he was going to turn deaf after that first excitement  rush his friend had.

 

Yangyang wasn’t soulless, though. He was really happy as well to be back at Mahoutokoro. He much preferred it over being sent back to Durmstrang, with those bunch of self-centered pricks that had blood superiority as their only personality trait. He assumed he could have probably went back to  Lóng Fèng, but he didn’t think it was likely. The academy was currently under surveillance to see who managed to breach it, and with the place being examined for its quality, he didn’t think his parents would like him to be there much. Even though his parents had no problem with half-bloods or muggleborns, they sure did had some problems with shabby establishments. Even if it was only in question, a place that is considered less than top tier will not fit Yayngyang in their eyes.

 

So yeah, he preferred returning to Mahoutokoro. He even liked that little mousey kid that Chenle befriended himself, and knowing that he will be will Renjun and Chenle made him feel already much more comfortable. 

 

That being said, he felt like absolute crap because the rest of his party.

 

None of them knew him. None of them tried to know him. The only person in the Chinese party that gave an actual crap about him (excluding Renjun and Chenle) was Kun, and that could also be arguably because of how he knew that Chenle would be a brat if he treated him anything less than how he does others. Maybe because he is also a part of a prestigious pure blood family and he knew what it meant, but really nothing genuine

 

So here he was, sitting with Renjun on the couch in the dorms, while he could hear Sicheng talking shit about him from the other room. He was tired and sad and he wanted to shout and confront him, but he knew it will add up to nothing. He will only gain a shittier reputation amongst them and he would put Renjun in a bad position with his new adoptive family. He doesn’t want Sicheng and Renjun to fight because of him. Not after he remembers how broken and alone Renjun really was back when he lost his family.

 

_ “What if his family leaked where Chenle was that day? How would anyone even know that Chenle was going to the woods that day? Chenle probably told him and he passed it on!”  _  Sicheng wasn’t even subtle about it, neither were any of the others that were in the other room. He could hear Xiaojun agreeing with him, and Yukhei’s over the top gasps.

 

Yangyang sunk into the sofa, unable to look at anything but his feet. He hated this so much, even more than those weird, suspicious glances they gave him every day. At least then they are doing it to his face, not speaking behind his back. They got it all wrong about his family, yes, but if they spoke to him about it he could at least clap back. They never gave him that choice.

 

He could understand the misunderstanding, but he was not allowed to correct it, and it frustrated him to no end. His family is known in the Chinese wizarding community as ‘blood traitors’, a term used to describe purebloods that helped half-bloods kill other purebloods years back when the Blood Wars were still going on. But it wasn’t true. None of it was true. 

 

His father was tricked into giving money to a group of rebels that disguised themselves as victims of the war, money that was later used for bad means. That was all that happened. They didn’t intentionally mean to help harming other people, but people used his father’s kindness and now their good name has all gone to shit. So much that he was forced to go Durmstrang just because it will help their reputation as purebloods. So much that he was practically in hiding until Chenle’s family wanted his friends to be close to him again, and luckily chose to trust them.

 

“I’m sorry my brother is like that.” Renjun whispered uncomfortably, his face in a deep frown that did not suit him at all. Yangyang lifted his gaze to look at him. Renjun was always so good to him, even back when the news just came out. He felt bad Renjun was having a hard time because of him, but at the same time, Yangyang was incredibly grateful for him that he had never walked away. “I know it isn’t true. You are a good person, Yangie.”

 

Yangyang chuckled slightly, his cheeks rising up with a big toothy grin he couldn’t withhold. “Voldemort wouldn’t be proud of me though.” He said jokingly, not wanting Renjun to feel down about this topic. This was his to handle, and Renjun didn’t deserve it.

 

“He can roll around in his grave, then.” Renjun said, chuckling a bit to himself as he looked at Yangyang with his own smile. 

 

And for a moment, there was no worry in the world. At least with Renjun, Yangyang knew he doesn’t need to fear being judged.

 

-

 

Chenle was so happy to be back at Mahoutokoro. It had been horrible being cooped up at his house, with people constantly buzzing around him. Yeah, Yangyang had been with him, and Renjun was even allowed to visit from time to time, but it’s no fun when they were restricted to one house the entire damn summer. 

 

He wanted to see Jisung for a long time already, to apologize for getting him into such a mess. He was so worried that Jisung would be scared to hang out with him now, but luckily enough it seemed like the other wasn’t really bothered about hanging out with him anymore. What was unlucky, though, was that Jisung looked bothered by something, and he didn’t know  _ what. _

 

They were on an outside bench, near one of the school’s Quidditch fields. It was one of these rare days that their friends all had something to do, whether if it was Renjun needing to help Qian with the dragons, or Jeno having to meet up with Jaehyun and Doyoung about school things, or anything else. Chenle didn’t really mind it. He felt rather natural with Jisung, so it wasn’t uncomfortable.

 

Maybe except for today. Today was a bit uncomfortable. But it was that type of uncomfortable that you just had to suck up and deal with.

 

“I also wanted to say thanks, for that day in the woods. I felt really bad you had to be involved with it..  thanks for not leaving me alone there.” Chenle said quietly, thinking back about how Jisung stayed there when all he could do was cry. He cringed at the thought. He hated how useless he was at that second, even more so how Jisung had to take care of him even though he was probably twenty times more shocked about what was going on.  _ I’m such a wuss… _

 

“It’s okay… no problem..” Jisung said absentmindedly, looking like in a completely different realm. Chenle stared at him, his lips in a weird line as Jisung stared ahead of him, more than likely daydreaming. Chenle had seen Jisung daydreaming quite a few times. At first he thought that Jisung just wasn’t shy about it or didn’t care about what people thought, but now, he was quite sure that Jisung wasn’t even aware of it. “I’ve been through that type of thing, before…” he added a bit later, slowly coming back into reality.

 

Chenle’s eyes widened. “You’ve been through an assassination attempt?” He questioned, positively puzzled. Jisung finally looked straight at him, face both sour and reluctant. Chenle could already see that what he had inside his mind was no good. Jisung sighed as he scratched the back of his head.

 

“I don’t know if it was an assassination attempt. I think it was, now that I look back on it... but all I know was that one day I was at my orphanage, and in the middle of the night it started burning up. I could hear screams and one of my caretakers… she died in front of me. Professor Terada came to save me that night, to bring me to Mahoutokoro, but… now that I’m thinking back on it, there were people, who shot at us some green light from their wands. I never knew it was a killing curse until now, but if professor Terada didn’t apparate us in time…” Jisung tried to explain, but his words were all so insecure, like he was scared to even speak them. Chenle looked at him sympathetically. He had his fair share of times he nearly died, but at least he knew about it since the very start. Jisung seemed… unsure.

 

“Do you know why they would want to…?”  _ Kill you?  _ Chenle couldn’t bring himself to actually say the last two words. He felt like it wasn’t right for him to say it. He felt like he shouldn’t say it, when it comes to Jisung. He didn’t want to imagine Jisung being chased by people. He didn’t want him to experience the same things he had. In a way, he didn’t want to speak it into existence - Jisung didn’t deserve that happening to him.

 

“No.” Jisung said, his voice a tiny bit weaker than before. He looked so distressed, causing Chenle to reach out and put a hand on his back, trying to console him, rubbing his back. Jisung sighed, sounding sick and tired as he rubbed his face with his hand, trying to think about all of it. “I don’t know who I am.” Jisung said quietly, upset and annoyed at the same time.

 

Chenle didn’t know what has brought this on, and why was Jisung self-doubting himself like this, but while he couldn’t really give him the answers he wanted to hear, he did remember something that Kun told him all of the time.  _ Zhong or not, you are Chenle. You are more than your family name, so be yourself. Even those nutjobs will hate themselves for ever thinking about hurting you, once they get to know you. _

 

“Jisung.” Chenle stated, not even thinking about it. 

 

“What?” Jisung asked, confused. He gave Chenle a rather annoyed stare, but the other didn’t mind it.

 

“You are Jisung. One of the best flyers at the school, worst student at potions, who managed to make friends with two thestrals and somehow managed to snag a private room in Mahoutokoro even though you shouldn’t be able to board yet. You are that kid that grabs all the desserts he wants first at the table because you don’t want people to finish them before you get to them. One of the taller kids in the grade but you still walk slower so I wouldn’t have to catch up. Yes, I noticed that. And yeah… you are Jisung.” Chenle explained. He just stated facts, but he suddenly wondered if he should have stuck to only good things.  _ I mean, I didn’t say anything bad… _

 

“I don’t take all the desserts! Only the chocolate ones…” Jisung lit up and tried to defend himself, coming up from his slouched position in seconds. Not that it mattered, really. One eyebrow lift from Chenle and even he knew all of his words were excuses.

 

“All of our desserts are  _ chocolate based,  _ Jisung.” Chenle said, smirking stupidly as Jisung sighed annoyedly.  _ At least he doesn’t look as sad now.  _ “But take as many desserts as you want. Jisung privilege only.” He added in, smiling. 

 

“Thank you for your approval,  _ lord Zhong.”  _ Jisung mocked, and Chenle poked him at his side, Jisung almost falling off the bench as he tried to avoid his finger. Chenle managed to catch his forearm on time, pulling him back closer to him. 

 

“Call me lord Zhong again and I will let you fall next time.” He threatened half-heartedly. Jisung had a grin on his face, and he was clearly holding back on it, but Chenle rolled his eyes and ignored it.  _ I guess I can let him think it was funny, if it makes him happy.  _ “Now tell me how you met the thestrals, I’ve been curious since before summer vacation,  _ Jisung.” _

 

“Whatever you want,  _ Chenle. _ ” Jisung replied, and started telling his story.

 

Chenle didn’t have the answers Jisung wanted, but when it came down to it, what he did say was what mattered. Maybe Jisung doesn’t really know a whole lot about his past - but it’s the present that mattered, and him being himself was just enough.

 

-

 

“So are we really doing this?” Yuta asked Taeyong aloud. 

 

It was the middle of the night, and the rest of the student body already went into their dorms to sleep. Not Yuta or Taeyong, though. It has only been one week since they had returned to school and became 7th years, but Taeyong already started going crazy about this Jisung thing again. They said it since last year, that they were going to find out who Jisung was on the records, but… he really hoped they wouldn’t really have to.

 

“I’m not giving this a rest until I know why he can’t be on games. This is total mistreatment. If you report it to the International Confederation of Wizards they can actually condemn the school for this.” Taeyong said determinedly, and Yuta really wondered why he fell in love with such a damn  _ mom.  _ It wasn’t like he didn’t care for Jisung himself, but the way Taeyong was so passionate about it to the point of losing sleep over it was quite a lot to handle.

 

_ I should have took the private prefect room when they gave me a chance.  _ If he did take it, maybe he wouldn’t have Taeyong convince him doing this in the middle of the night instead of like, a more reasonable hour, like the evening. Or on a sunday, when they have a whole day to explore, even if it was a little riskier.  _ My fault for being whipped enough to still choose to room with him. _

 

“Fine.” Yuta gave in with a loud huff. “From what I know, it’s rumored the office is supposed to be on the third floor. Which, like you already know, is the teacher quarters area. So we need to be really damn quiet, or else…” Yuta warned, and Taeyong rolled his eyes, muttering some ‘ _ okays’  _ under his breath. Yuta honestly thought he was way too heated about this today to execute this plan tonight, but it was a given that he would try it anyway. Especially after seeing Jisung walking in the halls all upset today, the urgency of this kind of sparked up.

 

“Do you think he’s still sad about it? I could swear he looked at me before he frowned.”  _ Here it is.  _ They were just walking up the stairs towards the third floor when he asked that, all pouting and guilty all of the sudden. Yuta sighed. Taeyong took too much burden on himself, and here he is once again feeling like a villain when he had done nothing wrong. 

 

“The kid is fine, Tae. He got so many friends now and he’s starting to get along with Mark as well. I don’t think this topic bothers him much anymore. Just stop blaming yourself when it’s really not your fault.” He tried to get to him, but Taeyong still looked bothered by it. Yuta grabbed his wrist and ran up the stairs with him. “Let’s just go find that damn office and find you the truth, okay?”

 

Taeyong followed him with a forced smile on his face, sticking close. It wasn’t long before they got to the top of the stairs, ending in a dark hallway that circled main room in the entire floor - The headmaster’s office. Taeyong gulped at the sight, and Yuta now thought maybe it was for the better they came here at night. Yeah, maybe if they came earlier they could have lied they wanted the shortcut to the library or something, but imagining this place filled with up and about teachers while they were snooping around gave him the shivers.

 

They started walking through the hallways carefully, not backing down. The hallway was  _ packed  _ with doors, all belong to rooms of teachers. Yuta could have sworn he heard one of them snore behind their doors and he had a couple of ideas of who’s room it was, but decided it was better to just move on. If it was professor Kobayashi, he was definitely not surprised.

 

They had finally reached a blank area in the hallway. It was right behind the headmaster hallway, and they either had the choice to go full circle and leave the place, or head through one door at the center or the wall that was a shortcut to the library of the school. 

 

The blank area didn’t hold much aside from a few lamps and one table that stood in front of the door, on the opposite wall from it. The table had one drawer with a golden know that literally calling him. Yuta stared at it. There were supposed to be offices in that floor, he knew it from the older prefects that had been summoned here before. They never had told him how to enter them, but how hard could it really be?

 

Taeyong, unable to resist himself, opened the drawer the table held. There was something that resembled a scale on the inside of it. “Are we supposed to put something on this for it to open?” Taeyong asked aloud, and Yuta thought to himself.  _ All of the older prefects can come and go to these offices without a teacher’s permission… The prefect badge? _

 

Yuta hesitated. He knew he  _ technically  _ was allowed to visit the offices since he’s already in his seventh year, and that was the time prefects can literally write things on records and work alongside the teachers, but he was never given an actual job yet, and it would look suspicious to do this right now, in the middle of the night, if he could possibly come here during the day after he will get something assigned to do here.

 

Regardless, the acceptance office one of the places you weren’t allowed to go to unless you were specifically called to get something from there, so he’d get shit for it anyway. Might as well just finish it at this one go. He took off his prefect badge from his shirt and tossed it onto the scale. In seconds, the walls started to move,  _ very loudly _ , to reveal four new doors in the hallway.

 

Both he and Taeyong marveled at the new differently colored jade doors. A white jade door, a purple jade door, a green jade door, and finally, a black jade door, that looked more intimidating than any of the buff Quidditch players Yuta has ever had to face on the court. 

 

“What was that noise?” Yuta could hear someone call from the very end of the circular hallway, and immediately took his badge away and shut the drawer.  _ I knew it, I knew I’m going to get fucked over by this, that was professor Maki for sure.  _ The doors disappeared on time, and he was already starting to run, but  _ of course,  _ his luck was completely rotten. Taeyong didn’t hear professor Maki himself and stayed in his place, shocked and confused, so he had to run back.

 

He grabbed his hand and was about to bolt, ready to drag him right back to the dorms. But it only took so much time for professor Maki to find them.

 

“What is going on here?” She asked them, scanning both him and Taeyong and their wacky, embarrassed expressions. He was still holding Taeyong’s hand and looked incredibly stupid with how big his eyes got as he stared back at her. Taeyong laughed nervously.

 

“U-uh, we were just… coming back from the library. Late study session… Seventh years and all. Haha.” Taeyong tried to give a proper explanation, but it was clear from how high his voice went that he was lying. Professor Maki squinted at them.

 

“You two Quidditch maniacs? Studying? I’d believe you if you were coming back from the court.” She said, folding her arms together. She glanced up and down, surveying all of them, until she finally focused on something. “Are you two dating now? Never seen you holding hands before.” She pointed out. Yuta went blank. Completely zoned out.  _ What? _

 

“Uh… Y-yeah. It was a study date… kinda.” Taeyong answered nervously, and all Yuta could do was internally scream. If his eyes could go any wider than before they would have. “We didn’t mean to disturb you, we just wanted to get to our dorms quickly…”

 

_ What?? _

 

“Well, at least you started studying together. Hope you keep it up. Care of Magical Beasts isn’t a strong subject for you anymore, Mr. Nakamoto.” Professor Maki said, before starting to turn around. “Go back to your dorms and next time you have a  _ study date,  _ keep it to a reasonable hour. I’ll let it slide today.”

 

“Thank you professor! We will!” Taeyong said, bowing even though she couldn’t see it with her back turned on him. He sighed out in relief as she left, smiling at Yuta. 

 

“We are really really lucky, I thought we were screwed over… hope you don’t mind me being your fake boyfriend, though.” Taeyong laughed.

 

_ The only thing that bothers me is the fake part, Lee Taeyong.  _

 

He doesn’t know how it ended up like this, and he would have rathered asking Taeyong to be his boyfriend for real, but for now, it will do.  _ Maybe I really am ought to be grateful for Jisung. _

 

-

 

Two weeks after their return to school, Donghyuck finds himself with Jeno and Jaemin, going to see Mark at Quidditch practice. He has no idea why he agreed to it. It might’ve been Jeno’s absolutely killer puppy eyes and maybe it was for the fact that Jisung had ditched them because Chenle and the Chinese kids wanted to see his private room in the castle, but somehow he ended up here, watching Jeno screaming over both Mark and Jaehyun while Jaemin clapped along, occasionally cheering for Johnny. 

 

Donghyuck watched Mark lazily as he flew from side to side. He had his regular, goofy smile on his face that widened every time he managed to pass a teammate or steal the Quaffle away. Donghyuck had to admit, he made Quidditch look really fun. Donghyuck wouldn’t lie and say it was boring, per se, but watching Mark play it made him actually _ itch _ to take a broom and take a go at it.

 

It actually made him a bit irritated to be sitting here just watching while the 127 members were all flying about. His mother always said he was a bit of an explorer - he wanted to try everything and be the best version of himself he could create. Whenever he saw something that piqued his interest, he jumped on it, he took it, and made it his.

 

Then again, he doesn’t know how to feel about actually playing the game. 127 was the only team that was comprised of mostly foreigners, and while the drama with Jisung mostly ended, he still felt incredibly guilty to even think about going for tryouts. Not to mention what was going on with Taeil and the team. He still felt like something wasn’t completely fine with him ever since that fight he had with Taeyong and Yuta.

 

_ Taeyong and Yuta. Ugh… _

 

He still didn’t know what to think of them. They seemed like decent people at times but then they prove themselves to hurt the people around them. He couldn’t tell what was their deal was - they’ve messed up multiple times and when they are called out they acted like victims. To him it sounded like an awful type of people to hang out with, but whatever. Lately. he heard rumors saying that they’ve started dating each other, but he really couldn’t see them lasting if that was how they were really like.

 

He huffed. He guessed he shouldn’t care if they last or not. They kind of deserved each other anyway. Donghyuck tried to focus on the other team members, though kind of intentionally avoided looking at Mark. It was kind of weird for him that they actually grew a bit close now. Even Jisung seemed to have stopped caring about what happened, and the other day he even sat next to Mark by himself, and that was major progress for Jisung, even if he was less chatty with the chaser. Donghyuck still felt awkward though - he mentioned the fact he doesn’t like Mark to the guy’s face, and he felt like if he stared too much, he might weird out or worry the other. Donghyuck unfortunately discovered that Mark was literally too nice and actually cared about these things, and he didn’t want to feel bad about it later.

 

_ Mark Lee, I hope you know you are a damn struggle. _

 

He looked for Johnny in the air instead - Johnny was probably the person he liked the most within the team. He was nice, he was funny, and was really like family to Jaemin, a family that Jaemin actually liked, so he knew he was trustworthy. And of course he hasn’t forgotten the other standing up for Taeil last year. So yes, Johnny was his favorite. Which was what made him so damn annoyed at him not being able to find him in the air suddenly.

 

Johnny played keeper, but he wasn’t at the hoops. He wasn’t flying around, that was clear. Donghyuck wants to believe his eyesight isn’t that bad that he cannot recognize a giant teenager flying around on his equally long broom. He looked all around. No Johnny in sight. He nearly fell of the bleachers’ platform trying to find him but even that didn’t help him.

 

Instead, when he looked back at the bleachers he found him sitting at the very top seats, a few levels above him, Jaemin and Jeno, who were right at the front. Jaemin and Jeno were absorbed as they watched Jaehyun and and Mark going against each other anyway, they wouldn’t care if he will go up for a second.

 

“I’ll be back in a second.” Donghyuck said, before hearing Jeno’s signature ‘eh?’ and seeing Jaemin just nodding at him. He went up the wooden steps of the bleachers’ platform straight up to Johnny, skipping through the row towards Johnny’s seat. He noticed Johnny was stretching his arm and moving it around uncomfortably. He squinted, but carried on.

 

“Johnny hyung!” He called out happily at first. Johnny already had a small smile on his face, he followed him with his eyes as he sat next to him. “How’s your hand? Does it hurt?” He asked him, his eyes set on his arm, particularly where it was broken beforehand.

 

Johnny shrugged, an awkward toothy smile taking over as he thought of what to say. His hand found his arm almost subconsciously, as if he needed to protect it. “A little. It’s not that bad though.” He answered finally, and Donghyuck wasn’t really satisfied with that answer. 

 

“It’s not supposed to hurt though. When I nearly broke my back Taeil did the Refectio spell on me everyday and it worked fine.” He said, looking at Johnny with a deadpan stare that was probably more piercing that it had any right to be. Johnny shrugged again, letting out a sigh.

 

“You had to be on potions at the same time, don’t think Jaeminnie hasn’t told me.” He retorted, making Donghyuck pout. Johnny gave out a hearty laugh at his expression, though Donghyuck hardly thought it was funny. “But yeah, since we were evacuated on that same day back home, I didn’t really get too much rest.” Johnny now explained. 

 

_ That makes more sense. He had a lot of injuries… _

 

“What, aunt Sunny didn’t let you rest?”

 

“Rest my ass. The minute I got back home she came to me screaming about how I got so beat up and that she will kill whoever did this to me. Took a whole evening just to explain to her these injuries were from a Quidditch match.” Johnny exhaled with all of his might at the memory. It was Donghyuck’s turn to laugh. Miss Lee, or otherwise known as aunt Sunny for both Johnny and Jaemin, was an absolutely tiny woman that looked like she could be blown away by the wind. The thought of her screaming and threatening to kill people was hilarious to think about, yet at the same time scary, because she definitely would and could.  _ She trains aurors for living, after all.  _

 

“Well, you should probably tell that to the nurse. You did kind of break half of your body that day.” Donghyuck pointed out. Johnny really got messed up that day. He could remember having to half carry him into the nurse office, and he was  _ damn heavy.  _ Wouldn’t want to end up like that again.

 

“I appreciate the worry, but if start these potion treatments and stuff I’m going to be banned off of sports ‘till it’s out of my system. Can’t really bail out on the guys for the first few games when I’m their only trained keeper.” Johnny laughed again, but dryly. It was clear that he wasn’t in a great, or even good condition.  _ Since he’s my favorite, I should probably… yeah.  _

 

“You could go to Taeil hyung and get him to help the injuries.. and you should start training somebody to be a keeper. They can’t rely on the fact that you are long forever.” He said honestly, his hand supporting his chin as he looked up at Johnny from his slouch. Johnny snorted.  _ It was true though. He really covered half of the main hoop by himself. _

 

“I’d go to Taeil if you’d learn how to be a keeper.” Johnny joked, running a hand through his hair. Donghyuck, however, did not take it as a joke. He actually thought it could be very beneficial to all parties. Johnny gets his wounds treated, Donghyuck learning how to play Quidditch properly for future references, and  _ Taeil…  _ well, he doesn’t seem to hate Johnny being around.  _ And vice versa.  _

 

A huge smirk was drawn on his face.

 

“Okay then. Sold. Let me know when the first lesson is, I’ll let Taeil hyung to come to you meanwhile.” He said, coming up from his seat as he started to leave. Johnny’s eyes widened, and before the older could actually say a word, Donghyuck pulled out his wrist, looking at a nonexistent clock on his hand. “Look at the time, I better go ahead to class. See you, Johnny hyung!”

 

“Wait, Donghyuck, you can’t-” Johnny started to protest, but Donghyuck was already at the end of the row, now skipping ahead towards his same age friends. 

 

_ I certainly can. _

 

“Let me know when our first lesson is soon!” Donghyuck yelled to him, grinning at his appalled face and being completely and utterly satisfied with himself. He got to his friends, and his grand escape was complete.

 

“Jaemin, Jeno! Let’s go to charms together!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bet i scared ya'll with that first sentence LOL  
> i hope u enjoyed all the new things. tell me what you think in the comments! <3 should i tag the fake dating trop for yutae kdfjdlkj idek  
> anyway let me know what you think!! my twitter is @keusookie and my cc is @yanvels if u wanna ask anything or talk <:


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